THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 


97OJ 
Ab3s 


IUWW8 


The  Slaveholding  Indians 

(1)  As  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

(2)  As  Participants  in  the  Civil  War 

(3)  Under  Reconstruction 


Vol.  I 


THfc  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


SVSNVMHV 


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The  American  Indian  as 
Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

AN  OMITTED  CHAPTER  IN 

THE  DIPLOMATIC  HISTORY  OF  THE 

SOUTHERN  CONFEDERACY 


BY 


ANNIE  HELOISE  ABEL,  PH.D. 


THE  ARTHUR  H.  CLARK  COMPANY 
CLEVELAND:  1915 


\ 


COPYRIGHT,    1 9  I  5  ,  BY 

ANNIE  HELOISE  ABEL 


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IM 


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TO 
MY  FATHER  AND  MOTHER 


587084 


Ill  I 

err// 


CONTENTS 

PREFACE 13 

I  GENERAL  SITUATION  IN  THE  INDIAN  COUNTRY,  1830- 

1860 17 

II  INDIAN  TERRITORY  IN  ITS  RELATIONS  WITH  TEXAS 

AND  ARKANSAS 63 

III  THE  CONFEDERACY  IN  NEGOTIATION  WITH  THE  IN- 

DIAN TRIBES 127    * 

IV  THE  INDIAN  NATIONS  IN  ALLIANCE  WITH  THE  CON- 

FEDERACY          207 

APPENDIX  A  -  FORT  SMITH  PAPERS 285 

APPENDIX  B  -  THE  LEEPER  OR  WICHITA  AGENCY  PAPERS  329 

SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY ".        .  359 

INDEX 369 


li'iJ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

INDIAN  TERRITORY,  1861 Frontispiece 

MAP  SHOWING  FREE  NEGRO  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  CREEK 

COUNTRY 25 

PORTRAIT  OF  COLONEL  DOWNING,  CHEROKEE  ...  65 
PORTRAIT  OF  JOHN  Ross,  PRINCIPAL  CHIEF  OF  THE  CHERO- 

KEES 112 

PORTRAIT  OF  COLONEL  ADAIR,  CHEROKEE  ....  221 

MAP  SHOWING  THE  RETREAT  OF  THE  LOYAL  INDIANS  .  263 

FORT  McCuLLOCH  281 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  three  dealing 
with  the  slaveholding  Indians  as  secessionists,  as  par- 
ticipants in  the  Civil  War,  and  as  victims  under  recon- 
struction. The  series  deals  with  a  phase  of  American 
Civil  War  history  which  has  heretofore  been  almost 
entirely  neglected  or,  where  dealt  with,  either  misun- 
derstood or  misinterpreted.  Perhaps  the  third  and  last 
volume  will  to  many  people  be  the  most  interesting 
because  it  will  show,  in  great  detail,  the  enormous  price 
that  the  unfortunate  Indian  had  to  pay  for  having  al- 
lowed himself  to  become  a  secessionist  and  a  soldier. 
Yet  the  suggestiveness  of  this  first  volume  is  consider- 
ably larger  than  would  appear  at  first  glance.  It  has 
been  purposely  given  a  sub-title,  in  order  that  the  pecu- 
liar position  of  the  Indian,  in  1861,  may  be  brought  out 
in  strong  relief.  He  was  enough  inside  the  American 
Union  to  have  something  to  say  about  secession  and 
enough  outside  of  it  to  be  approached  diplomatically. 
It  is  well  to  note,  indeed,  that  Albert  Pike,  negotiated 
the  several  Indian  treaties  that  bound  the  Indian  na- 
tions in  an  alliance  with  the  seceded  states,  under  the 
authority  of  the  Confederate  State  Department,  which 
was  a  decided  advance  upon  United  States  practice -an 
innovation,  in  fact,  that  marked  the  tremendous  im- 
portance that  the  Confederate  government  attached  to 
the  Indian  friendship.  It  was  something  that  stood 
out  in  marked  contrast  to  the  indifference  manifested  at 
the  moment  by  the  authorities  at  Washington ;  for,  while 


14       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

they  were  neglecting  the  Indian  even  to  an  extent  that 
amounted  to  actual  dishonor,  the  Confederacy  was  offer- 
ing him  political  integrity  and  political  equality  and 
was  establishing  over  his  country,  not  simply  an  empty 
wardship,  but  a  bona  fide  protectorate. 

Granting  then  that  the  negotiations  of  1861  with  the 
Indian  nations  constitute  a  phase  of  southern  diplomatic 
history,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  to  what  Indian  par- 
ticipation in  the  Civil  War  amounted.  It  was  a  cir- 
cumstance that  was  interesting  rather  than  significant; 
and  the  majority  will  have  to  admit  that  it  was  a  cir- 
cumstance that  could  not  possibly  have  materially  af- 
fected the  ultimate  situation.  It  was  the  Indian  coun- 
try, rather  than  the  Indian  owner,  that  the  Confederacy 
wanted  to  be  sure  of  possessing;  for  Indian  Territory 
occupied  a  position  of  strategic  importance,  from  both 
the  economic  and  the  military  point  of  view.  The 
possession  of  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  political 
and  the  institutional  consolidation  of  the  South.  Texas 
might  well  think  of  going  her  own  way  and  of  forming 
an  independent  republic  once  again,  when  between  her 
and  Arkansas  lay  the  immense  reservations  of  the  great 
tribes.  They  were  slaveholding  tribes,  too,  yet  were 
supposed  by  the  United  States  government  to  have  no 
interest  whatsoever  in  a  sectional  conflict  that  involved 
the  very  existence  of  the  "peculiar  institution."  Thus 
the  federal  government  left  them  to  themselves  at  the 
critical  moment  and  left  them,  moreover,  at  the  mercy 
of  the  South,  and  then  was  indignant  that  they  betrayed 
a  sectional  affiliation. 

The  author  deems  it  of  no  slight  advantage,  in  under- 
taking a  work  of  this  sort,  that  she  is  of  British  birth 
and  antecedents  and  that  her  educational  training,  so 
largely  American  as  it  is,  has  been  gained  without  re- 


Preface  1 5 

spect  to  a  particular  locality.  She  belongs  to  no  section 
of  the  Union,  has  lived,  for  longer  or  shorter  periods 
in  all  sections,  and  has  developed  no  local  bias.  It  is 
her  sincere  wish  that  no  charge  of  prejudice  can,  in  ever 
so  small  a  degree,  be  substantiated  by  the  evidence,  pre- 
sented here  or  elsewhere.  ANNIE  HELOISE  ABEL. 
Baltimore,  September,  1914 


I.  THE  GENERAL  SITUATION  IN  THE  IN- 
DIAN COUNTRY,  1830-1860 

Veterans  of  the  Confederate  service  who  saw  action 
along  the  Missouri-Arkansas  frontier  have  frequently 
complained,  in  recent  years,  that  military  operations  in 
and  around  Virginia  during  the  War  between  the  States 
receive  historically  so  much  attention  that,  as  a  conse- 
quence, the  steady,  stubborn  fighting  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  is  either  totally  ignored  or,  at  best,  cast 
into  dim  obscurity.  There  is  much  of  truth  in  the  criti- 
cism but  it  applies  in  fullest  measure  only  when  the 
Indians  are  taken  into  account;  for  no  accredited  his- 
tory of  the  American  Civil  War  that  has  yet  appeared 
has  adequately  recognized  certain  rather  interesting 
facts  connected  with  that  period  of  frontier  develop- 
ment; viz.,  that  Indians  fought  on  both  sides  in  the 
great  sectional  struggle,  that  they  were  moved  to  fight, 
not  by  instincts  of  savagery,  but  by  identically  the  same 
motives  and  impulses  as  the  white  men,  and  that,  in  the 
final  outcome,  they  suffered  even  more  terribly  than  did 
the  whites.  Moreover,  the  Indians  fought  as  solicited 
allies,  some  as  nations,  diplomatically  approached. 
Treaties  were  made  with  them  as  with  foreign  powers 
and  not  in  the  farcical,  fraudulent  way  that  had  been 
customary  in  times  past.  They  promised  alliance  and 
were  given  in  return  political  position -a  fair  exchange. 
The  southern  white  man,  embarrassed,  conceded  much, 
far  more  than  he  really  believed  in,  more  than  he  ever 
could  or  would  have  conceded,  had  he  not  himself  been 


1 8       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

so  fearfully  hard  pressed.  His  own  predicament,  the 
exigencies  of  the  moment,  made  him  give  to  the  Indian 
a  justice,  the  like  of  which  neither  one  of  them  had 
dared  even  to  dream.  It  was  quite  otherwise  with  the 
northern  white  man,  however;  for  he,  self-confident 
and  self-reliant,  negotiated  with  the  Indian  in  the  tra- 
ditional way,  took  base  advantage  of  the  straits  in  which 
he  found  him,  asked  him  to  help  him  fight  his  battles, 
and,  in  the  selfsame  moment,  plotted  to  dispossess  him 
of  his  lands,  the  very  lands  that  had,  less  than  five  and 
twenty  years  before,  been  pledged  as  an  Indian  posses- 
sion "as  long  as  the  grass  should  grow  and  the  waters 


run." 


From  what  has  just  been  said,  it  can  be  easily  in- 
ferred that  two  distinct  groups  of  Indians  will  have  to 
be  dealt  with,  a  northern  and  a  southern ;  but,  for  the 
present,  it  will  be  best  to  take  them  all  together.  Col- 
lectively, they  occupied  a  vast  extent  of  country  in  the 
so-called  great  American  desert.  Their  situation  was 
peculiar.  Their  participation  in  the  war,  in  some  ca- 
pacity, was  absolutely  inevitable;  but,  preparatory  to 
any  right  understanding  of  the  reasons,  geographical, 
institutional,  political,  financial,  and  military,  that 
made  it  so,  a  rapid  survey  of  conditions  ante-dating  the 
war  must  be  considered. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  for  some  time  prior  to 
1860  the  policy1  of  the  United  States  government  had 
been  to  relieve  the  eastern  states  of  their  Indian  inhab- 
itants and  that  this  it  had  done,  since  the  first  years  of 

1  Confessedly  much  to  its  discredit,  the  United  States  government  has  never 
had,  for  any  appreciable  length  of  time,  a  well-developed  and  well-defined  In- 
dian policy,  one  that  has  made  the  welfare  of  the  aborigines  its  sole  concern. 
Legislation  for  the  subject  race  has  almost  invariably  been  dictated  by  the  needs 
of  the  hour,  by  the  selfish  and  exorbitant  demands  of  pioneers,  and  by  the 
greed  and  caprice  of  politicians. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  19 

Andrew  Jackson's  presidency,  by  a  more  or  less  com- 
pulsory removal  to  the  country  lying  immediately  west 
of  Arkansas  and  Missouri.  As  a  result,  the  situation 
there  created  was  as  follows:  In  the  territory  compre- 
hended in  the  present  state  of  Kansas,  alongside  of  in- 
digenous tribes,  like  the  Kansa  and  the  Osage,2  had  been 
placed  various  tribes  or  portions  of  tribes  from  the  old 
Northwest3 -the  Shawnees  and  Munsees  from  Ohio,4 
the  Delawares,  Kickapoos,  Potawatomies,  and  Miamies 
from  Indiana,  the  Ottawas  and  Chippewas  from  Mich- 
igan, the  Wyandots  from  Ohio  and  Michigan,  the  Weas, 
Peorias,  Kaskaskias,  and  Piankashaws  from  Illinois, 
and  a  few  New  York  Indians  from  Wisconsin.  To  the 
southward  of  all  of  those  northern  tribal  immigrants 
and  chiefly  beyond  the  later  Kansas  boundary,  or  in  the 
present  state  of  Oklahoma,  had  been  similarly  placed 
the  great5  tribes  from  the  South6 -the  Creeks  from 

2  There   were,  of  course,  other  indigenous  tribes  to  the  westward,  in  the 
direction  of  Colorado  and  Texas,  and  to  the  northward,  in  southern  Nebraska; 
but  only  the  latter  were  more  than  remotely  affected,  as  far  as  local  habitation 
was  concerned,  by  the  coming  of  the  eastern  emigrants  and  the  consequent  in- 
troduction of  the  reservation  system. 

3  Kansas  Historical  Society  Collections,  vol.  viii,  72-109. 

*  In  scarcely  a  single  case  here  cited  was  the  old  home  of  the  tribe  limited 
by  the  boundaries  of  a  single  state  nor  is  it  to  be  understood  that  the  state  here 
mentioned  was  necessarily  the  original  habitat  of  the  tribe.  It  was  only  the 
territorial  headquarters  of  the  tribe  at  the  time  of  removal  or  at  the  time  when 
the  policy  of  removal  was  first  insisted  upon  as  a  sine  qua  non.  Some  of  the 
Indians  emigrated  independently  of  treaty  arrangements  with  the  United  States 
government  and  some  did  not  immediately  direct  their  steps  towards  Kansas 
or  Oklahoma;  but  made,  through  choice  or  through  necessity,  an  intervening 
point  a  stopping-place.  The  Kickapoos,  the  Shawnees,  and  the  Delawares  tar- 
ried in  Missouri,  the  Choctaws  and  the  Cherokees,  many  of  them,  in  Arkansas 
but  that  was  before  1830,  the  date  of  the  removal  law.  After  1830,  there  was 
no  possible  resting-place  for  weary  Indians  this  side  of  the  Ozark  Mountains. 

5  Some  of  the  more  insignificant  southern  Indians  eventually  found  their 
way  also  to  Oklahoma.  In  1860  there  were  a  few  Louisiana  Caddoes  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  Chickasaw  country,  most  likely  the  same  that,  in 
1866,  were  reported  to  have  been  driven  out  of  Texas  in  1859  by  bushwhackers 
and  then  out  of  the  Washita  country  at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War.  They 


2O       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Georgia  and  Alabama,  the  Cherokees  from  Tennessee 
and  Georgia,  the  Seminoles  from  Florida,  and  the  Choc- 
taws  and  Chickasaws  from  Alabama  and  Mississippi/ 
The  population  of  the  whole  country  thus  colonized 

continued  throughout  the  war  loyal  to  the  United  States.  In  1853  the  Choctaw 
General  Council  passed  an  act  admitting  to  the  rights  of  citizenship  several 
Catawba  Indians;  and,  from  that  circumstance,  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs 
surmised  that  the  Choctaws  would  be  willing  to  incorporate  Catawbas  yet  in 
the  Carolinas.  In  1857  there  were  about  seventy  Catawbas  in  South  Carolina  on 
a  tiny  reservation.  They  expressed  an  ardent  wish  to  go  among  the  Choctaws. 
In  1860  the  Catawbas  were  in  possession  of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  Choc- 
taw  country. 

6  For  the  detailed  history  of  events  leading  up  to  Indian  removals,  partic- 
ularly the  southern,  see  American  Historical  Association,  Report,  1906,  241-450. 

7  Not  all  of  the  southern  Indians  had  emigrated  in  the  thirties  and  forties. 
A  considerable  number  of  Cherokees  removed  themselves  from  the  country  east 
of  the  Mississippi  to  Texas.     This  was  immediately  subsequent  to  and  induced 
by  the  American   Revolution   [Texas   Historical  Association,   Quarterly,   July, 
1897,  38-46  and  October,  1903,  95-165].     Many  Cherokees,  likewise,  took  the 
suggestion  of  President  Jefferson  and  moved  to  the  Arkansas  country  prior  to 
1820.     Moreover,    there    were    "Eastern    Cherokees"   in   controversy   with    the 
"Western   Cherokees"   for  many  years  after   the   Civil   War.     Their   endless 
quarrels  over  property  proved  the   occasion  of  much  litigation.     In  the   late 
fifties  active  measures  were  taken  by  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs  to  complete 
the  removal  of  the   Seminoles   and  to  accomplish  by  intrigue   and  diplomacy 
what  the  long  and  expensive  Second  Seminole  War  had  utterly  failed  to  do. 
Elias  Rector  of  Arkansas  superintended  the  matter  and  the  Seminole  chief, 
John  Jumper,  gave  valuable  assistance,  as  did  also  the  Creeks,  who  generously 
granted  to  the  Seminoles  a  home  within  the  Creek  country  west  [Creek  Treaty, 
1856,  Kappler's  Indian  Laws  and  Treaties,  vol.  ii,  757].     Billy  Bowlegs  was 
the  last  Seminole  chief  of  prominence   to  leave  Florida  [Coe's  Red  Patriots, 
198].     In  1853  there  were  still  some  four  hundred  Choctaws  reported  as  living 
in  Alabama  and  there  must  have  been  even  more  than  that  in  Mississippi.    In 
1854  steps  were  taken,  but  unsuccessfully,  for  their  removal.     In  1859  Repre- 
sentative John  J.  McRae   presented  a  petition   from  citizens  of  various  Mis- 
sissippi counties    asking  that   the  Choctaws  be   removed   altogether  from   the 
state  because  of  their  intimacy  and  intercourse  with  the  negroes.     The  Office 
of  Indian  Affairs  refused  to  act.     Perchance,  it  considered  the  moment  inop- 
portune or  the  means  at  hand  insufficient.     It  may  even  have  considered  the 
charge  against  the  Choctaws  a  mere  pretext  and  quite  unfounded  since  it  was 
commonly  reported  that  the  Choctaws  had  a  decided  aversion  to  that  particular 
kind   of  race  mixture.     In  that  respect  they  differed  very  considerably  from 
the  Creeks  who  to-day  are  said  to  present  a  very  curious  spectacle  of  an  al- 
most complete  mixture.     Choctaws  from  Mississippi  and  Cherokees  from  North 
Carolina  and  Catawbas  from  South  Carolina   fought  with   the  South  in  the 
Civil  War. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  21 

and,  in  a  sense,  reduced  to  the  reservation  system, 
amounted  approximately  to  seventy-four  thousand  souls, 
less  than  seven  thousand  of  whom  were  north  of  the 
Missouri-Compromise  line.  The  others  were  all  south 
of  it  and,  therefore,  within  a  possible  slave  belt. 

This  circumstance  is  not  without  significance;  for  it 
is  the  colonized,  or  reservation,  Indians8  exclusively 
that  are  to  figure  in  these  pages  and,  since  this  story  is  a 
chapter  in  the  struggle  between  the  North  and  the 
South,  the  proportion  of  southerners  to  northerners 
among  the  Indian  immigrants  must,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  have  weight.  The  relative  location  of  north- 
ern and  southern  tribes  seems  to  have  been  determined 
with  a  very  careful  regard  to  the  restrictions  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  and  the  interdicted  line  of  thir- 
ty-six degrees  and  thirty  minutes  was  pretty  nearly  the 
boundary  between  them.9  That  it  was  so  by  accident 
may  or  may  not  be  subject  for  conjecture.  Fortunately 
for  the  disinterested  motives  of  politicians  but  most  un- 
fortunately for  the  defenceless  Indians,  the  Cherokee 
land  obtruded  itself  just  a  little  above  the  thirty-seventh 
parallel  and  formed  a  "Cherokee  Strip"  eagerly  covet- 
ed by  Kansans  in  later  days.  One  objection,  be  it  re- 
membered, that  had  been  offered  to  the  original  plan  of 
removal  was  that,  unless  the  slaveholding  southern  In- 
dians were  moved  directly  westward  along  parallel 

8  Other  Indians  made  trouble  during  the  progress  of  the  Civil  War,   as, 
for  instance,  the  Sioux  in  the  summer  of  1862.     The  Sioux,  however,  were  not 
fighting  for  or  against  the  issues  of  the  white  man's  war.     They  were  simply 
taking  advantage  of  a  favorable  occasion,  when  the  United  States  government 
was  preoccupied,  to  avenge  their  own  wrongs. 

9  The  existence  of  the  "Cherokee  Neutral  Land"  out  of  which  the  south- 
eastern counties  of  Kansas  were  illegitimately  formed  was  not  exactly  an  ex- 
ception to  this.     The  Neutral  Land,  eight  hundred  thousand  acres  in  extent, 
was  an  independent  purchase,  made  by  the  Cherokees,  and  was  not  included  in 
the  exchange  or  in  the  original  scheme  that  forced  their  removal  from  Georgia. 
It  was  a  subsequent  concession  to  outraged  justice. 


22       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

lines  of  latitude,  northern  rights  under  the  Missouri 
Compromise  would  be  encroached  upon.  Yet  slavery 
was  not  conscientiously  excluded  from  Kansas  in  the 
days  antecedent  to  its  organization  as  a  territory.  With- 
in the  Indian  country,  and  it  was  all  Indian  country 
then,  slavery  was  allowed,  at  least  on  sufferance,  both 
north  and  south  of  the  interdicted  line.  It  was  even  en- 
couraged by  many  white  men  who  made  their  homes  or 
their  living  there,  by  interlopers,  licensed  traders,  and 
missionaries;10  but  it  flourished  as  a  legitimate  institu- 
tion only  among  the  great  tribes  planted  south  of  the 
line.  With  them  it  had  been  a  familiar  institution  long 
before  the  time  of  their  exile.  In  their  native  haunts 
they  had  had  negro  slaves  as  had  had  the  whites  and 
removal  had  made  no  difference  to  them  in  that  partic- 
ular. Since  the  beginning  of  the  century  refuge  to  fugi- 
tives and  confusion  of  ownership  had  been  occasions  for 
frequent  quarrel  between  them  and  the  citizens  of  the 
Southern  States.  Later,  when  questions  came  up  touch- 
ing the  status  of  slavery  on  strictly  federal  soil,  the  In- 
dian country  and  the  District  of  Columbia  often  found 
themselves  listed  together.11  Moreover,  after  1850,  it 
became  a  matter  of  serious  import  whether  or  no  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  operative  within  the  Indian 
country;  and,  when  influenced  apparently  by  Jefferson 
Davis,  Attorney- general  Cushing  gave  as  his  opinion 
that  it  was,  new  controversies  arose.  Slaves  belonging 

10  By  far  the  best  instance  of  missionary  activity  in  behalf  of  slavery  among 
the  northern  Indian  immigrants  is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  Reverend 
Thomas  Johnson's  work  at  the  Shawnee  Mission  [Ray's  Repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  footnote  207].     Johnson,  like  William  Walker,  head  chief  of  the 
Wyandots,  was  an  ardent  pro-slavery  advocate  [ibid.,  footnote  205]  and  took  a 
rather  disgracefully  prominent  part  in  the  notorious  election  frauds  of  early 
Kansas  territorial  days  [House  Report,  34th  congress,  first  session,  no.  200,  pp. 

14,  18,  94,  425]- 

11  Buchanan's  Works,  vol.  iii,  348,  350,  353. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860 23 

to  the  Indians  were  often  enticed  away  by  the  abolition- 
ists12 and  still  more  often  were  seized  by  southern  men 
under  pretense  of  their  being  fugitives.13  In  cases  of 
the  latter  sort,  the  Indian  owners  had  little  or  no  re- 
dress in  the  federal  courts  of  law.14 

12  Siebert's  Underground  Railroad  from  Slavery  to  Freedom,  284. 

13  The  most  interesting  case  that  came  up  in  this  connection  was  that  of  the 
so-called   Beams'    Negroes,    resident    in   the    Choctaw    country    and    illegally 
claimed  as  refugees  by  John  B.  Davis  of  Mississippi  [Indian  Office,  Special 
Files,  no.  277].    The  Reverend  S.  A.  Worcester  interested  himself  in  their  be- 
half [Jefferson  Davis  to  Worcester,  October  7,  1854]  and  a  decision  was  finally 
rendered  in  their  favor.    Another  interesting  case  of  similar  nature  was,  "In 
re  negroes  taken  from  Overton  Love  and  David  Wall  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation 
by  Citizens  of  Texas,  i848-'57"  [ibid.,  no.  278]. 

14  Under  the  Intercourse  Law  of  1834,  the  Indian  Territory  had  been  an- 
nexed for  judicial  purposes  to  the  western  district  of  Arkansas.    The  Indians 
were  much  dissatisfied.    They  felt  themselves  entitled  to  a  federal  court  of 
their  own,  a  privilege  the   United  States  government  persistently  denied  to 
them  but  one  that  the  Confederate  government  readily  granted.    As  matters 
stood,  prior  to  the  Civil  War,  the  red  men  seemed  always  at  the  mercy  of  the 
white  man's  distorted  conception  of  justice  and  were,  perforce,  quite  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  boasted  guaranties  of  theoretical  Anglo-Saxon  justice  since 
the  very  location  of  the  court  precluded  a  trial  by  their  peers  of  the  vicinage. 
The  journey  to  Arkansas,  in  those  early  days,  was  long  and  tiresome  and  ex- 
pensive.   Complications  frequently  arose  and  matters,  difficult  of  adjustment, 
even  under  the  best  of  circumstances.    Among  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  the 
status  of  the  free  negro  was  exceptionally  high,  partly  due,  with  respect  to  the 
latter,  to  conditions  growing  out  of  the  Second  Seminole  War.    As  already  in- 
timated, the  Creeks  had  no  aversion  whatsoever  to  race  mixtures  and  inter- 
marriage between  negroes  and  Indians  was  rather  common.    The  half-breeds 
resulting  from  such  unions  were  accepted  as  bona  fide  members  of  the  tribe  by 
the   Indians  in  the  distribution  of  annuities,    but   not  by  the  United   States 
courts  —  another  source  of  difficulty  and  a  very  instructive  one  as  well,  par- 
ticularly from  the  standpoint  of  reconstructionist  exactions. 

Occasionally  the  presence  of  the  free  negro  within  the  Indian  country  was 
a  source  of  grave  danger.     The  accompanying  letters  outline  a  case  in  point: 
HEAD  QUARTERS  7TH.  MIL:  DEPT.  FORT  SMITH,  March  5th.  1852. 

SIR:  By  direction  of  the  Colonel  commanding  the  Department  I 
transmit  herewith  copies  of  a  communication  from  George  Folsom, 
Chief  of  the  Pushmataha  District,  to  Colonel  Wilson  Choctaw  Agent  and 
one  from  Colonel  William  Wilson  Choctaw  Agent  to  Brevet  Major 
Holmes  commanding  Fort  Washita  asking  aid  from  the  Military  force. 

As  the  letter  from  the  Choctaw  Agent  is  not  sufficiently  explicit  as  to 
what  he  wishes  done  by  the  Military  authority  the  subject  is  referred  to 
you,  and  if  on  investigation  it  be  found  that  Military  interference  is 


24       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

In  point  of  fact,  during  all  the  years  between  the 
various  dates  of  Indian  removal  and  the  breaking  out 
of  the  Civil  War,  the  Indian  country  was  constantly 

necessary  to  enforce  the  intercourse  law,  prompt  assistance  will  be  ren- 
dered for  the  purposes  therein  specified,  under  the  direction  and  in  pres- 
ence of  the  Choctaw  Agent.  Respectfully  Yr  Obt.  Servt., 

FRANCIS  N  PAGE,  Asst.  Adjt.  Genl. 
Colonel  John  Drennen,  Superintendent  W.  T. 

Inclosure 

CHOCTAW  AGENCY,  February  9th  1852 

SIR:  The  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter  from  Colonel  George  Folsom 
Chief  of  Pushmataha  District  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  will  put  you  in 
possession  of  the  facts  and  reasons  why  I  address  you  at  this  time. 

As  the  position  of  the  free  Negros  and  Indians  alluded  to  in  the 
Chief's  letter  seems  to  be  of  rather  a  hostile  character,  having  built 
themselves  a  Fort  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  defending  themselves  if 
interupted  in  their  present  location,  it  seems  to  me  necessary  that  they 
should  be  driven  away  if  necessary  by  Military  authority;  and,  as  your 
post  is  the  most  convenient  to  the  place  where  the  Negroes  and  Indians 
are  Ported  I  have  thought  that  a  command  could  be  sent  with  less 
trouble  and  at  less  expense  to  the  government  by  you  than  any  one  else. 
I  would  therefore  most  respectfully  call  upon  you  to  take  such  steps  as 
you  may  think  most  advisable  to  remove  from  the  Choctaw  country  the 
persons  complained  of  by  the  Chief,  and  if  necessary  call  upon  Chief 
Folsom  to  aid  you  with  his  light  horse,  who  may  be  of  much  service  to 
you  in  the  way  of  Guides.  Very  Respectfully  Yr.  Obt  Servt. 

(Signed)         WILLIAM  WILSON,  Choctaw  Agent 
[Endorsement]     A  true  Copy,  Francis  N  Page,  Asst.  Adjt.  Genl. 

Inclosure 

PUSHMATAHA  DISTRICT,  January  23.  1852. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  spoke  to  you  about  those  free  negroes  upon  the  head 
waters  of  Boggy,  when  I  last  saw  you,  requesting  to  have  something 
done  with  them.  I  have  just  learned  that  the  negroes  and  some  Indians 
are  banded  together  and  have  built  themselves  a  little  Fort.  There  is 
no  doubt  but  that  they  will  be  a  great  trouble  to  us.  One  of  our  coun- 
try judges  sent  for  the  light-horse-men  to  go  and  seize  the  negroes,  but 
I  have  forbid  them  going,  and  many  of  our  people  wish  to  go  and  see 
them.  I  have  forbid  any  body  to  go  there  with  intentions  to  take  them. 
It  will  no  doubt  be  hard  to  break  them  up.  You  have  probably  just 
returned  home,  and  it  may  seem  tresspassing  upon  you  to  write  you 
about  those  negroes  and  Indians,  but  you  are  our  agent,  and  we  have 
the  right  to  look  to  you  for  help.  It  seems  to  me  this  affair  wants  an 
immediate  action  on  it. 

I  have  simply  stated  to  you  how  these  negroes  and  Indians  are 
Ported  up  that  you  may  better  know  how  to  deal  with  them.  In  pur- 


IHt  LlttBARK 

OMHE 
UHWERS1TY  OF  1111101$ 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  27 

beset  by  difficulties.  Some  of  the  difficulties  were  inci- 
dent to  removal  or  to  disturbances  within  the  tribes  but 
most  of  them  were  incident  to  changes  and  to  political 
complications  in  the  white  man's  country.  Scarcely 
had  the  removal  project  been  fairly  launched  and  the 
first  Indian  emigrants  started  upon  their  journey  west- 
ward than  events  were  in  train  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
whole  scheme. 

When  Calhoun  mapped  out  the  Indian  country  in  his 
elaborate  report  of  1825,  tne  selection  of  the  trans-Mis- 
souri region  might  well  have  been  regarded  as  judicious. 
Had  the  plan  of  general  removal  been  adopted  then, 
before  sectional  interests  had  wholly  vitiated  it,  the 
United  States  government  might  have  gained  and,  in  a 
measure,  would  have  richly  deserved  the  credit  of  do- 
ing at  least  one  thing  for  the  protection  and  preserva- 
tion of  the  aborigines  from  motives,  not  self-interested, 
but  purely  humanitarian.  The  moment  was  oppor- 
tune. The  territory  of  the  United  States  was  then  lim- 
ited by  the  confines  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  and  its 
settlements  by  the  great  American  desert.  Traders 
only  had  penetrated  to  any  considerable  extent  to  the 
base  of  the  Rockies;  but  experience  already  gained 
might  have  taught  that  their  presence  was  portentous 
and  significant  of  the  need  of  haste;  that  is,  if  Calhoun's 
selection  were  to  continue  judicious;  for  traders,  as  has 
been  amply  proved  in  both  British  and  American  his- 
tory, have  ever  been  but  the  advance  agents  of  settlers. 

Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  pure  philanthropy,  the 
United  States  government  was  exceedingly  slow  in 

forming  your  duties  if  I  can  in  any  way  render  you  any  assistance  I 
shall  always  be  happy  to  do  so.     Very  respectfully  Your  friend 

(Signed)     GEORGE  FOLSOM,  Chief  Push:  Dist: 
Col:  William  Wilson,   Choctaw  Agent 
[Endorsement]  a  true  Copy,  Francis  N  Page,  Asst.  Adjt.  Genl. 


28       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

adopting  the  plan  of  Indian  removal;  but  its  citizens 
were  by  no  means  equally  slow  in  developing  the  spirit 
of  territorial  expansion.  Their  successful  seizure  of 
West  Florida  had  fired  their  ambition  and  their  cupid- 
ity. With  Texas  annexed  and  lower  Oregon  occupied, 
the  selection  of  the  trans-Missouri  region  had  ceased 
to  be  judicious.  How  could  the  Indians  expect  to  be 
secure  in  a  country  that  was  the  natural  highway  to  a 
magnificent  country  beyond,  invitingly  open  to  settle- 
ment! But  this  very  pertinent  and  patent  fact  the  offi- 
cials at  Washington  singularly  failed  to  realize  and 
they  went  on  calmly  assuring  the  Indians  that  they 
should  never  be  disturbed  again,  that  the  federal  gov- 
ernment would  protect  them  in  their  rights  and  against 
all  enemies,  that  no  white  man  should  be  allowed  to 
intrude  upon  them,  that  they  should  hold  their  lands 
undiminished  forever,  and  that  no  state  or  territorial 
lines  should  ever  again  circumscribe  them.  Such  prom- 
ises were  decidedly  fatuous,  dead  letters  long  before  the 
ink  that  recorded  them  had  had  time  to  dry.  The  Mex- 
ican War  followed  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  its  con- 
quests necessitated  a  further  use  of  the  Indian  high- 
way. Soldiers  that  fought  in  that  war  saw  the  Indian 
land  and  straightway  coveted  it.  Forty-niners  saw  it 
and  coveted  it  also.  Prospectors  and  adventurers  of  all 
sorts  laid  plans  for  exploiting  it.  It  entered  as  a  deter- 
mining factor  into  Benton's  great  scheme  for  building 
a  national  road  that  should  connect  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  shores  and  with  the  inception  of  that  came  a 
very  sudden  and  a  very  real  danger;  for  the  same  great 
scheme  precipitated,  although  in  an  indirect  sort  of 
way,  the  agitation  for  the  opening  up  of  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  to  white  settlement,  which,  of  course,  meant 
that  the  recent  Indian  colonists,  in  spite  of  all  the  sol- 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  29 

emn  governmental  guaranties  that  had  been  given  to 
them,  would  have  to  be  ousted,  for  would  not  the  "sov- 
ereign" people  of  America  demand  it?  Then,  too,  the 
Dred  Scott  decision,  the  result  of  a  dishonorable  politi- 
cal collusion  as  it  was,15  militated  indirectly  against 
Indian  interests.  It  is  true  that  it  was  only  in  its  extra- 
legal  aspect  that  it  did  this  but  it  did  it  none  the  less; 
for,  if  the  authority  of  the  federal  government  was  not 
supreme  in  the  territories  and  not  supreme  in  any  part 
of  the  country  not  yet  organized  into  states,  then  the 
Indian  landed  property  rights  in  the  West  that  rested 
exclusively  upon  federal  grant,  under  the  Removal  Act 
of  1830,  were  virtually  nil.  It  is  rather  interesting  to 
observe,  in  this  connection,  how  inconsistent  human  na- 
ture is  when  political  expediency  is  the  thing  at  stake; 
for  it  happened  that  the  same  people  and  the  same 
party,  identically,  that,  in  the  second  and  third  decades 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  had  tried  to  convince  the  In- 
dians, and  against  their  better  judgment  too,  that  the 
red  man  would  be  forever  unmolested  in  the  western 
country  because  the  federal  government  owned  it  abso- 
lutely and  could  give  a  title  in  perpetuity,  argued,  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  decades,  that  the  states  were  the 
sole  proprietors,  that  they  were,  in  fact,  the  joint  own- 
ers of  everything  heretofore  considered  as  national.  In- 
ferentially,  therefore,  Indians,  like  negroes,  had  no 
rights  that  white  men  were  bound  to  respect. 

The  crucial  point  has  now  been  reached  in  this  dis- 
cussion. From  the  date  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
the  sectional  affiliation  of  the  Indian  country  became  a 
thing  of  more  than  passing  moment.  Whatever  may 
have  been  John  C.  Calhoun's  ulterior  and  real  motive 

15  Buchanan's  Works,  vol.  x,  "the  Catron  letter,"  106;  "the  Grier  letter," 
106-107. 


30       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

in  urging  that  the  trans-Missouri  region  be  closed  to 
white  settlement  forever,  whether  he  did,  as  some  of  his 
abolitionist  enemies  have  charged,  plan  thus  to  block 
free-state  expansion  and  so  frustrate  the  natural  oper- 
ations of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  certain  it  is,  that 
southern  politicians,  after  his  time,  became  the  chief 
advocates  of  Indian  territorial  integrity,  the  ones  that 
pleaded  most  often  and  most  noisily  that  guaranties  to 
Indians  be  faithfully  respected.  They  had  in  mind  the 
northern  part  of  the  Indian  country  and  that  alone ;  but, 
no  doubt,  the  circumstance  was  purely  accidental,  since 
at  that  time,  the  early  fifties,  the  northern16  was  the  only 
part  likely  to  be  encroached  upon.17  Their  interest  in 
the  southern  part  took  an  entirely  different  direction 

16  This  was  as  it  appeared  to  N.  G.  Taylor,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs, as  he  looked  back,  in  1867,  upon  events  of  the  past  few  years.     He  was 
then  of   the  opinion  that  the  very  existence  of  slavery  among  the  southern 
tribes  had  most  probably  saved  their  country  from  being  coveted  by  emigrants 
going  westward. 

17  One    agency    under   the    Southern   Superintendency,    the    Neosho    River 
Agency,  was,  however,  included  in  the  scheme  preliminary  to  the  organization 
of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.     See  the  following  letters  found  in  Thomas  S.  Drew's 
Letter  Press  Book: 

(a)  OFFICE  SUPT.  IND.  AFFAIRS  FORT  SMITH,  ARKS.  Dec.  21,  1853. 
SIR:    Inclosed  herewith  you  will  receive  letters  from  Agent  Dorn, 

dated  the  ist  and  2nd  instant;  the  former  in  relation  to  the  disposition 
•  of  the  Indians  within  his  agency  to  meet  Commissioners  on  the  subject 
of  selling  their  lands,  or  having  a  Territorial  form  of  Government  ex- 
tend over  them  by  the  United  States:  and  the  latter  nominating  John 
Finch  as  Blacksmith  to  the  Great  and  Little  Osages.  Very  respectfully 
Your  obt.  servt.  A.  H.  RUTHERFORD,  Clerk  for  SupL 

Hon.  Geo.  W.  Manypenny,  Comr  Ind.  Affairs 
Washington  City. 

(b)  OFFICE  SUPT.  INDIAN  AFFAIRS  FORT  SMITH,  ARKS.  Dec.  29,  1853. 
SIR:    ...     I  have  also  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  letters  from 

you  of  the  2nd  instant  to  the  Commissioner  of  Ind.  Affrs.  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Indians  within  your  Agency  being  willing  to  meet  Commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  the  U.S.  preparatory  to  selling  their  lands,  or  to 
take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  admitting  a  Territorial  form  of 
Government  extended  over  them  &  ... 

A.  H.  RUTHERFORD,  Clerk  for  Supt. 
A.  J.  Dorn,  U.S.  Indian  Agt,  Crawford  Seminary. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  31 

and  that  also  may  have  been  accidental  or  occasioned  by 
conditions  quite  local  and  present.  For  this  southern 
part,  by  the  way,  they  recommended  American  citizen- 
ship and  the  creation  of  American  states18  in  the  Union, 

18  In  this  connection,  the  following  are  of  interest: 

(a)  The  Choctaws,  it  is  understood,  are  prepared  to  receive  and  as- 
sent to  the  provisions  of  a  bill  introduced  three  years  since  into  the  Senate 
by  Senator  Johnson  of  Arkansas,  for  the  creation  of  the  Territories  of 
Chah-la-kee,  Chah-ta,  and  Muscokee,  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that 
that  or  some  similar  bill  may  be  speedily  enacted.  .  .  Their  country, 
a  far  finer  one  than  Kansas.  .  .  The  Choctaws  have  adopted  a  new 
constitution,  vesting  the  supreme  executive  power  in  a  governor.  .  . 
It  is  understood  that  this  change  has  been  made  preparatory  to  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  bill  already  mentioned. 

The  foregoing  is  taken  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  southern  superintendent 
for  1857  and  in  that  report,  Elias  Rector  who  was  then  the  superintendent, 
having  taken  office  that  very  year,  argued  that  all  the  five  great  tribes  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  have  delegates  on  the  floor  of  Congress  and  to  be  made  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States ;  for  the  constitutions  of  the  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  and 
Chickasaws  would  compare  favorably,  said  he,  with  those  of  any  of  the  south- 
western states  [Senate  Documents,  35th  congress,  first  session,  vol.  ii,  485]. 
(b)  The  Fort  Smith  Times  of  February  3,  1859  printed  the  following: 

SAM  HOUSTON  AND  THE  PRESIDENCY 

The  following  we  take  from  a  printed  slip  sent  to  us  by  our  Doaks- 
ville  correspondent,  who  informs  us  that  it  was  sent  to  that  office  just 
as  he  sends  it.  We  presume  that  it  is  the  programme  laid  down  by 
some  of  the  Texas  papers,  friendly  to  the  election  of  Sam  Houston  to  the 
Presidency.  .  . 

Re-organization  of  the  Territories 

1.  The  organization  of  the  Aboriginal  Territory  of  Decotah,   from 
that  part  of  the  late  Territory  of  Minnesota,  lying  west  of  the  State  of 
Minnesota. 

2.  To  fix  the  western  boundaries  of  Kansas   and  Nebraska,   at  the 
Meridian  99  or  100;  and  to  establish  in  those  Territories,  Aboriginal 
counties,  for  the  exclusive  and  permanent  occupation  of  the  Aboriginal 
tribes  now  located  east  of  that  line  and  within  those  Territories;  also  to 
provide,  that  said  Territories  shall  not  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
States  unless  their  several  Constitutions  provide  for  the  continuation  of 
the  Federal  regulations  adopted  for  better  government  and  welfare  of 
the  Aboriginal  tribes  inhabiting  the  same. 

3.  To  organize  the  Indian  territory  lying  west  of  Arkansas,  as  "the 
Aboriginal  Territory  of  Neosho,"  under  regulation  similar  to  those  pro- 
posed by  Hon.  Robert  W.  Johnson  of  Arkansas  in  1854  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Indian  territory  of  Neosho. 

4.  To  purchase  from  the  State  of  Texas  all  that  portion  of  the  State 


32       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

also  a  territorial  organization  immediately  that  should 
look  towards  that  end.  Such  advice  came  as  early  as 
1853,  at  least,  and  was  more  natural  than  would  at  first 
glance  appear;  for  the  southern  tribes  were  huge  in 
population,  in  land,  and  in  resources.  They  were  civ- 
ilized, had  governments  and  laws  modelled  upon  the 

lying  north  of  the  Red  river  and  include  the  same  in  the  Aboriginal 
territory  of  Comanche  or  Ouachita. 

5.  The  territory  of  New  Mexico. 

6.  From  the  western  portion  of  New  Mexico  to  take  the  Aboriginal 
territory  of  Navajoe. 

7.  From  the  western  portion  of  Utah,  to  take  the  Aboriginal  terri- 
tory of  Shoshone. 

Re-organize  the  eastern  part  of  Utah,  (the  Mormon  country),  as  an 
Aboriginal  territory. 

Organize  the  western  territory  of  Osage. 

From  Nebraska,  west  of  the  M.ioo,  and  south  of  the  4$th  parallel 
take  the  Aboriginal  territory  of  Mandan. 

Organize  the  eastern  half  of  Oregon,  as  the  Aboriginal  territory  of 
Umatilla. 

Washington  east  of  the  M.n8  to  be  the  Aboriginal  territory  of 
Okanagan. 

Nebraska,  north  of  the  45th  parallel  to  be  the  Aboriginal  territory  of 
Assinneboin.  Emigration  into  these  territories  to  be  prohibited  by  law 
of  Congress,  until  the  same  shall  have  been  admitted  into  the  Union  as 
States. 

In  each  territory,  a  resident  Military  Police  to  preserve  order.     .    . 
(c)     Henry  Wilson,  in  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Slave  Power,  vol.  ii,  634- 
635  says, 

In  the  Indian  Territory  there  were  four  tribes  of  Indians  —  Cherokees, 
Choctaws,  Chickasaws/  and  Creeks.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  their 
governments  slavery  had  become  so  firmly  established  that  slaveholders 
thought  them  worthy  of  political  fellowship,  and  articles  in  favor  of 
their  admission  began  to  appear  in  the  southern  press.  "The  progress 
of  civilization,"  said  the  New  Orleans  "Picayune,"  "in  several  of  the 
Indian  tribes  west  of  the  States  will  soon  bring  up  a  new  question  for 
the  decision  of  Congress.  .  .  It  cannot  fail  to  give  interest  to  this 
question  that  each  of  the  Indian  tribes  has  adopted  the  social  institu- 
tions of  the  South."  To  concentrate  and  give  direction  to  such  efforts, 
a  secret  organization  was  formed  to  encourage  Southern  emigration,  and 
to  discourage  and  prevent  the  entrance  into  the  Territory  of  all  who 
were  hostile  to  slaveholding  institutions.  It  was  hoped  thus  to  guard 
against  adverse  fortune  which  had  defeated  their  purposes  and  plans 
for  Kansas.  . 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  33 

American,  and  more  than  all  else,  they  were  southern 
in  origin,  in  characteristics,  and  in  institutions. 

The  project  for  organizing19  the  territories  of  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  caused  much  excitement,  as  well  it  might, 

1S  With   reference   to   the   proposed   organization   the  subjoined  documents 
are  of  interest: 

MR.  Mix,  C  STREET«  Ju^  2' 

Dear  Sir,  Please  have  the  western  boundary  of  Mis.  laid  down  on 
this  map,  and  the  outline  of  the  Pawnee,  Kanzas  &  Osage  purchases, 
and  the  reservations,  as  they  now  stand  within  that  outline.  You  need 
not  show  each  purchase,  but  the  outline  of  the  whole.  Yours  truly 

THOMAS  H.  BENTON. 
Letter  of  July  2,  1853,  Indian  Office  Miscellaneous  Files,  1851-1854, 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  August  5th,  1854. 
HON.  G.  W.  MANYPENNY  Esq.,  Com  Indian  Department,  Washington 

City. 

Dear  Sir,  Many  people  of  Ohio,  as  well  as  of  the  states  west  of  it, 
have  for  a  long  time  been  most  anxious  to  learn  through  your  Depart- 
ment, the  nature  of  the  several  treaties  made  by  yourself  in  behalf  of  the 
Government,  with  the  several  tribes  of  Indians  occupying  the  Terri- 
tories of  Nebraska  &  Kansas:  particularly  as  to  the  reservation  of  land 
made  by  such  Tribes,  its  extent,  where,  when,  &  how  to  be  located,  & 
•within  luhat  time,  —  and  also  what  lands  in  both  of  said  Territories  by 
virtue  of  said  treaties  are  now  subject  to  location"} 

I  regret  to  inform  you  that  much  censure  has  attached  to  your  Depart- 
ment, in  consequence  of  the  delay  which  has  attended  the  promulgation 
of  the  above  information,  but  which  from  my  long  knowledge  of  you 
personally,  and  of  the  very  prompt  manner  in  which  you  have  invari- 
ably discharged  your  public  duties,  I  believe  to  be  most  unjust. 

I  seek  the  above  information,  not  only  for  myself   (contemplating  a 

removal  to  Kansas)  but  also  in  behalf  of  many  persons  in  the  western 

states,  who  have  solicited  my  intervention  in  that  matter  on  my  visit  to 

this  City.     Very  respectfully  your  friend  S.  W.  WHITE 

Indian  Office  Miscellaneous  Files,  1851-2854. 

C.  STREET,  Aug.  19,  '53. 
To  GEO.  W.  MANYPENNY  ESQ.,  Com.  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Sir,  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note  of  yes- 
terday with  the  accompanying  copy  of  a  letter  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Atchi- 
son,  and  make  my  thanks  to  you  for  this  mark  of  your  attention.  The  re- 
ply will  be  immediately  forwarded  to  Meas  Ami,  to  be  published  in  the 
same  paper  in  which  your  note  to  me  covering  the  map  on  which  the 
Indian's  cessions  &  reserves  west  of  Missouri,  was  published,  Very  re- 
spectfully, Sir,  Yr.  obt.  servant,  THOMAS  H.  BENTON. 
Indian  Office  Miscellaneous  Files,  1851-1854. 


34       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

among  the  Indian  immigrants,  even  though  the  Wyan- 
dots,  in  1852,  had,  in  a  measure,  anticipated  it  by  initiat- 
ing a  somewhat  similar  movement  in  their  own  restrict- 
ed locality.20  Most  of  the  tribes  comprehended  to  the 
full  the  ominous  import  of  territorial  organization;  for, 
obviously,  it  could  not  be  undertaken  except  at  a  sacri- 
fice of  Indian  guaranties.  At  the  moment  some  of  the 
tribes,  notably  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw,21  were  hav- 
ing domestic  troubles  that  threatened  a  neighborhood 
war  and  the  new  fear  of  the  white  man's  further  aggran- 
dizement threw  them  into  despair.  The  southern 
Indians,  generally,  were  much  more  exercised  and 
much  more  alarmed  than  were  the  northern.22  Being 
more  highly  civilized,  they  were  better  able  to  compre- 
hend the  drift  of  events.  Experience  had  made  them 
unduly  sagacious  where  their  territorial  and  treaty 
rights  were  concerned,  and  well  they  knew  that,  al- 
though the  Douglas  measure  did  not  in  itself  directly 
affect  them  or  their  country,  it  might  easily  become  the 
forerunner  of  one  that  would. 
The  border  strife,  following  upon  the  passage  of  the 

20  Ray,  op.  cit.,  86 ;  Connelley,  in  Kansas  Historical  Society,  Collections,  vol. 
vi,  102 ;  Connelley,  Provincial  Government  of  Nebraska  Territory,  pp.  24,  30 
et  seq. 

The  Wyandots  took  an  active  part  in  the  Kansas  election  troubles.  For 
some  evidence  of  that,  see,  House  Reports,  34th  congress,  first  session,  no.  200, 
pp.  22,  266. 

21  By  the  treaty  of  1837  [Kappler,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  486],  the  Choctaws,  for  a 
money  consideration  as  was  natural,  agreed  to  let  the  Chickasaws  occupy  their 
country  jointly  with  themselves  and  form  a  Chickasaw  District  within  it  that 
should  be  on   a  par  with  the  other  districts   (Moo-sho-le-tubbee,  Apucks-hu- 
nubbe,   and  Push-ma-ta-ha),  or  political  units,  of  the  Choctaw   Nation.    The 
arrangement  meant  political  consolidation,  one   General   Council   serving  for 
the  two  tribes,  but   each   tribe   retaining  control  of  its  own   annuities.     The 
boundaries  of  the  Chickasaw  District  proved  the  subject  of  a  contention,  con- 
stant and  bitter.     Civil  war  was  almost  precipitated  more  than  once.     Finally, 
in  1855,  tne  political  connection  was  brought  to  an  end  by  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  of  Washington  [Kappler,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  706],  negotiated  in  that  year. 

22  See  Report  of  C.  C.  Copeland  to  Cooper,  August  27,  1855. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  35 

Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  disturbed  in  no  slight  degree  the 
Indians  on  the  Kansas  reservations,  which,  by-the-by, 
had  been  very  greatly  reduced  in  area  by  the  Many- 
penny  treaties  of  1853-1854.  Some  of  the  reserves  lay 
right  in  the  heart  of  the  contested  territory,  free-state 
men  intrenching  themselves  among  the  Delawares  and 
pro-slavery  men  among  the  Shawnees,23  the  former 
north  and  the  latter  south  of  the  Kansas  River.  But  even 
remoteness  of  situation  constituted  no  safeguard  against 
encroachment.  All  along  the  Missouri  line  the  squat- 
ters took  possession.  The  distant  Cherokee  Neutral 
Lands24  and  the  Osage  and  New  York  Indian  reserva- 
tions25 were  all  invaded.26  The  Territorial  Act  had 
expressly  excluded  Indian  land  from  local  govern- 
mental control;  but  the  Kansas  authorities  of  both 
parties  utterly  ignored,  in  their  administration  of  af- 
fairs, this  provision.  The  first  districting  of  the  terri- 
tory for  election  purposes  comprehended,  for  instance, 
the  Indian  lands,  yet  little  criticism  has  ever  been  passed 

23  A  secret  society  is  said  to  have  been  formed  in  Missouri  for  the  express 
purpose  of  gaining  the  Shawnee  land  for  slavery. 

24  Dean  wrote  to  Butler,  November  29,  1855  [Letter  Press  Book"]  saying  that 
the  disturbed  state  of  things  in  Kansas  was  having  a  very  serious  effect  upon 
the  Cherokee  Neutral  Land.     Early  in  1857,  Butler  reported  that  he  had  given 
notice  that  if  intruders  had  not  removed  themselves  by  spring  he  would  have 
them  removed  by  the  military  [Butler  to  Dean,  January  9,  1857].     Manypenny 
approved  Butler's  course  of  action  which  is  quite  significant,  considering  that 
the  federal  administration  was  supposed  to  be  unreservedly  committed  to  the 
pro-slavery   cause  and    the   intruders  were  pro-slavery  men   from   across  the 
border. 

25  Andrew  Dorn  took  charge  of  the  Neosho  Agency,  to  which  these  reserva- 
tions as  well  as  the  Quapaw,  Seneca,  and  Seneca  and   Shawnee  belonged,  in 
1855  and  regularly  had  occasion  to  complain  of  intruders.     White  people  seem 
to  have  felt  that  they  could  with  impunity  encroach  upon  the  New  York  In- 
dian lands  because  they  were  only  sparsely  settled  and  because  the  Indian  title 
was  in  dispute. 

26  Apart  from  any  sectional  desire  to  obtain  the  Indian  country,  would-be 
settlers  seem  to  have  been  attracted  thither  from  a  mistaken  notion  that  there 
were  mines  of  precious  metals  west  of  Missouri  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs, Report,  1858]. 


36       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

upon  that  grossly  illegal  act.  Needless  to  say,  the  con- 
troversy between  slavocracy  and  freedom  obscured  and 
obliterated,  in  those  years,  all  other  considerations. 

As  the  year  1860  approached,  appearances  assumed 
an  even  more  serious  aspect.  Kansas  settlers  and 
would-be  settlers  demanded  that  the  Indians,  so  re- 
cently the  only  legal  occupants  of  the  territory,  vacate 
it  altogether.  So  soon  had  the  policy  of  granting  them 
peace  and  undisturbed  repose  on  diminished  reserves 
proved  futile.  The  only  place  for  the  Indian  to  go, 
were  he  indeed  to  be  driven  out  of  Kansas,  was  present 
Oklahoma;  but  his  going  there  would,  perforce,  mean 
an  invasion  of  the  property  rights  of  the  southern  tribes, 
a  matter  of  great  moment  to  them  but  seemingly  of  no 
moment  whatsoever  to  the  white  man.  Some  of  the 
Kansas  Indians  saw  in  removal  southward  a  temporary 
refuge -they  surely  could  not  have  supposed  it  would 
be  other  than  temporary- and  were  glad  to  go,  making 
their  arrangements  accordingly."  Some,  however,  had 
to  be  cajoled  into  promising  to  go  and  some  had  to  be 
forced.  A  few  held  out  determinedly  against  all 
thought  of  going.  Among  the  especially  obstinate  ones 
were  the  Osages,28  natives  of  the  soil.  The  Buchanan 

27  As  early  as  1857,  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  Missouri  were  reported  as  look- 
ing for  a  new  home  to  the  southward,  in  a  less  rigorous  climate,  and,  with  that 
purpose  in  mind,  they  visited  the  Cherokees.     When  the  Delaware  treaty  of 
1860  was  being  negotiated,  the  Delawares  expressed  themselves  as  very  anxious 
to  get  away  from  white  interference,  to  leave  Kansas.    The  Ottawas  thought 
and  thought  rightly,  forsooth,  judging  from  the  experience  of  the  past,  that  re- 
moval would  do  no  good.     They  declared  a  preference  for  United  States  citi- 
zenship and  tribal   allotment   [Jotham  Meeker,   Baptist  missionary,   to   Agent 
James,   September  4,   1854,   a^so  Agent  James's  Report,  1857].     At  this  same 
period,  Agent  Dorn  reported  that  the  Kansas  River  Shawnees  were  desirous  of 
joining  those  of  the  Neosho  Agency.     Greenwood  replied,  January  18,  1860, 
that  the  subject  of  allowing  the  northern  Indians  to  go  south  was  then  under 
consideration  by  the  department  [Letter  to  Superintendent  Rector]. 

28  The  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  a  letter  from  W.  G.  Coffin  to  Dole, 
June  17,  1861  [Neosho  Files,  1838-1865,  €1223]. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  37 

government  failed  utterly  to  convince  them  of  the 
wisdom  of  going  and  was,  thereupon,  charged  by  the 
free-state  Kansans  with  bad  faith,  with  not  being  sincere 
and  sufficiently  persistent  in  its  endeavors  to  treat,  its 
secret  purpose  being  to  keep  the  free-state  line  as  far 
north  as  possible.  The  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War 
prevented  the  immediate  removal  of  any  of  the  tribes 
but  did  not  put  a  stop  to  negotiations  looking  towards 
that  end. 

All  this  time  there  was  another  influence  within  the 
Indian  country,  north  and  south,  that  boded  good  or  ill 
as  the  case  might  be.  This  influence  emanated  from 
the  religious  denominations  represented  on  the  various 
reserves.  Nowhere  in  the  United  States,  perhaps,  was 
the  rivalry  among  churches  that  had  divided  along 
sectional  lines  in  the  forties  and  fifties  stronger  than 
within  the  Indian  country.  There  the  churches  con- 
tended with  each  other  at  close  range.  The  Indian 
country  was  free  and  open  to  all  faiths,  while,  in  the 
states,  the  different  churches  kept  strictly  to  their  own 
sections,  the  southern  contingent  of  each  denomination 
staying  close  to  the  institution  it  supported.  Of  course 
the  United  States  government,  through  its  civilization 
fund,  was  in  a  position  to  show  very  pointedly  its  sec- 
tional predilections.  It  will  probably  never  be  known, 
because  so  difficult  of  determination,  just  how  much  the 
churches  aided  or  retarded  the  spread  of  slavery.29 

Among  the  tribes  of  Kansas,  denominational  strength 
was  distributed  as  follows:  The  Kickapoos30  and 

29  For  information  on  this  subject,  see  Carroll's  American  Church  History, 
19,  93,  253-254,  302. 

30  Feeling  that,  under  the  treaty  of  1854,  they  were  free  to  choose  whatever 
denomination  they  pleased  to  reside   among  them,  the  Kickapoos  expressed   a 
preference   for   the    Methodist   Episcopal  Church  South,  but  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  already  established  among  their  neighbors  of 


38        The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Wyandots31  were  Methodists;  but,  while  the  former 
were  a  unit  in  their  adherence  to  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  South,  the  latter  were  divided  and  among 
them  the  older  church  continued  strong.  The  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Missionary  Union  had  a  school  on  the 
Delaware  reservation  and,  previous  to  1855,  nac^  had 
one  also  on  the  Shawnee,  which  the  political  uproar  in 
Kansas  had  obliged  to  close  its  doors.  These  same 
Northern  Baptists  were  established  also  among  the 
Ottawas,  as  the  Moravians  were  among  the  Munsees 
and  the  Roman  Catholics32  among  the  Osages  and  the 
Potawatomies.  The  Southern  Baptists  were  likewise  to 
be  found  among  the  Potawatomies83  and  the  Southern 
Methodists  among  the  Shawnees.  The  Shawnee  Man- 
ual Labor  School,  under  the  Southern  Methodists,  was, 
however,  only  very  grudgingly  patronized  by  the  In- 
dians. Its  situation  near  the  Missouri  border  was 
partly  accountable  for  this  as  it  was  for  the  selection 
of  the  school  as  the  meeting-place  of  the  pro-slavery 
legislature  in  1855.  The  management  of  the  institution 
was  from  time  to  time  severely  criticized  and  the  super- 

the  Otoe  and  Missouria  and  Great  Neraaha  Agencies,  their  own  agent,  Mr. 
Baldwin,  was  a  Presbyterian,  and  so,  before  long,  in  some  almost  unaccountable 
way,  they  found  that  the  Presbyterians  (Old  School)  had  obtained  an  entry 
upon  their  reserve  and  had  established  a  mission  school  there.  The  Kickapoos 
were  indignant,  as  well  they  had  a  right  to  be,  and  made  as  much  trouble  as 
they  possibly  could  for  the  Presbyterians.  In  1860,  the  Presbyterian  Board 
vacated  the  premises  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  took  posses- 
sion, Agent  Badger  favoring  the  change.  The  change  was  of  but  short  dura- 
tion, however;  for,  in  1861,  the  Southern  Methodists,  finding  the  sympathy  of 
the  Kickapoos  was  mainly  with  the  federal  element,  took  their  departure. 

31  Ray,  op.  cit.,  86,  footnote  107. 

32  The  most  flourishing   schools  seem  to  have   been  the  Roman   Catholic. 
The  Roman  Catholics  did  not  greatly  concern  themselves,  as  a  church  organiza- 
tion, with  the  slavery  agitation,  and  St.  Mary's  Mission  and  the  Osage  Manual 
Labor  School  were  scarcely  affected  by  the  war  and  not  at  all  by  the  troubles 
that  presaged  its  approach. 

33  The  Baptist  school   among  the   Potawatomies  closed  in    1861.     See  Ap- 
pendix. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  39 

intendent,  the  Reverend  Thomas  Johnson,  an  intense 
pro-slavery  agitator,34  was  strongly  suspected  of  mal- 
feasance,35 of  enriching  himself,  forsooth,  at  the  expense 
of  the  Indians.  The  school  found  a  formidable  rival, 
from  this  and  many  another  cause,  in  a  Quaker  estab- 
lishment, which  likewise  existed  on  the  Shawnee  Re- 
serve but  independently  of  either  tribal  or  govern- 
mental aid. 

If  church  influences  and  church  quarrels  were  dis- 
cernible among  the  northern  tribes,  they  were  certainly 
very  much  more  so  among  the  southern.  The  Amer- 
ican Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 
(Congregational)  that  had  labored  so  zealously  for  the 
Cherokees,  when  they  were  east  of  the  Mississippi,  ex- 
tended its  interest  to  them  undiminished  in  the  west; 
and,  in  the  period  just  before  the  Civil  War,38  was  the 
strongest  religious  force  in  their  country.  There  it  had 
no  less  than  four  mission  stations87  and  a  flourishing 
school  in  connection  with  each.  The  same  organization 
was  similarly  influential  among  the  Choctaws38  or,  in 
the  light  of  what  eventually  happened,  it  might  better 
be  said  its  missionaries  were.  Both  Southern  and  North- 
ern Baptists  and  Southern  Methodists  likewise  were  to 
be  found  among  the  Cherokees;39  Presbyterians40  and 

34  House  Report,  34th  congress,  first  session,  no.  200,  pp.  14,  18,  94,  425. 

35  See  Indian  Office,  Special  File,  no.  220. 

36  The  work  of  the  American  Board  among  the  Cherokees  was  discontinued 
just  before  the  war   [Missionary  Herald,   1861,  p.   n ;   American  Board  Re- 
port, 1860,  p.  137]. 

37  The  four  were:  "Park  hill,  five  miles  south  from  Tahlequah;  Dwight, 
forty-two  miles  south-southwest  from  Tahlequah;  Fairfield,   twenty-five  miles 
southeast  from  Tahlequah;  Lee's  creek,  forty-three  miles  southeast  from  Tahle- 
quah"—  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  [Report,   1859,  p.   173].     There  had 
been  a  fifth,  an  out  station. 

38  The  Congregational  schools  among  the  Choctaws  were :  lyanubbi,  near 
the  Arkansas  line ;  Wheelock,  eighteen  miles  east  of  Doaksville ;  and  Chuahla, 
one  mile  from  Doaksville. 

89  The  Southern  Baptist  Convention  had  not  been  long  in  the  country  prior 


40       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Southern  Methodists  among  the  Chickasaws  and  Choc- 
taws;  and  Presbyterians  only  among  the  Creeks  and 
Seminoles.  In  every  Indian  nation  south,  except  the 
Creek  and  Seminole,41  the  work  of  denominational 
schools  was  supplemented,  or  maybe  neutralized,  by 
that  of  public  and  neighborhood  schools. 

True  to  the  traditions  and  to  the  practices  of  the  old 
Puritans  and  of  the  Plymouth  church,  the  missionaries 
of  the  American  Board,*2  so  strongly  installed  among 
the  Choctaws  and  the  Cherokees,  took  an  active  interest 
in  passing  political  affairs,  particularly  in  connection 
with  the  slavery  agitation.  On  that  question,  they 
early  divided  themselves  into  two  camps ;  those  among 
the  Choctaws,  led  by  the  Reverend  Cyrus  Kingsbury,43 

to  the  Civil  War.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South  had  no  schools  but 
several  missionaries.  The  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  had  a  number 
of  meeting-houses. 

40  The  Presbyterians  (Old  School)  established  Wah-pa-nuc-ka  Institute  for 
young  women,  forty  miles  north  of  Red  River  and  one  and  one-eighth  miles 
west  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  line;  but  differences   arose  between  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  the  Chickasaw  authorities,  neither 
institutional  nor  sectional,  but  purely  financial,  which  caused  the  Presbyterians 
to  abandon  the  school  in  1860  [C.  H.  Wilson,   attorney  for  the  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Foreign   Missions,   to  Cooper,   April   16,   1860].     The  Presbyterian 
schools  among  the  Choctaws  were:  Spencer  Academy,  "located  on  the  old  mil- 
itary road  leading  from  Fort  Towson  to  Fort  Smith,  about  ten  miles  north  of 
Fort  Towson,"  and  Koonsha  Female  Seminary.     Both  of  them  were  under  the 
Presbyterian  Board.     A  third  institution,  Armstrong  Academy,  belonged  to  the 
Cumberland   Presbyterians.     The  Southern  Methodists  had  Bloomfield   Acad- 
emy, Colbert  Institute,    and  the  Chickasaw  Manual  Labor  School   among  the 
Chickasaws;    and   the   Fort   Coffee   and   New  Hope  academies,   for  boys   and 
girls  respectively,  among  the  Choctaws. 

41  The  Seminoles  were  late  in  manifesting  an  interest  in  education,  and,  when 
interest  did  arise  among  them,  John  Jumper,  the  chief,  declared  for  boarding- 
schools  and  asked  that  such  be  established  under  the  Presbyterian  Board,  the 
same  that  had  influence  among  their  near  neighbors,  the  Creeks. 

42  The  American  Board  itself  was  inclined  to  be  non-committal   and  tem- 
porizing [Garrison,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  30].     The  Missionary  Herald,  so  valuable 
an  historical  source  as  it  proved  itself  to  be  for  Indian  removals,  is  strangely 
silent  on  the  great  subject  of  negro  slavery  among  the  Indians.     Its  references 
to  it  are  only  very  occasional  and  never  more  than  incidental. 

43  Kingsbury  was  superintendent  of  the  Chuahla  Female  Seminary. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  41 

supporting  slavery;  and  those  among  the  Cherokees,  led 
by  the  Reverend  S.  A.  Worcester,44  opposing  it.  The 
actions  of  the  former  led  to  a  controversy  with  the 
American  Board  and,  in  1855,  the  malcontents,  or  pro- 
slavery  sympathizers,  expressed  a  desire  to  separate 
themselves  and  their  charges  from  its  patronage.45 
When,  eventually,  this  separation  did  occur,  1859-1860, 
the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  (Old 
School)  stepped  into  the  breach.46 

The  rebellious  conduct  of  the  Congregational  mis- 
sionaries met  with  the  undisguised  approval  of  the 
Choctaw  agent,  Douglas  H.  Cooper,47  formerly  of 
Mississippi.  It  was  he  who  had  already  voiced  a  ner- 
vous apprehension,  as  exhibited  in  the  following  docu- 
ment,48 that  the  Indian  country  was  in  grave  danger  of 
being  abolitionized: 

^^  If  things  go  on  as  they  are  now  doing,  in  5  years  slavery 

will  be  abolished  in  the  whole  of  your  superintendency. 

(Private)     I  am  convinced  that  something  must  be  done 

speedily  to  arrest  the  systematic  efforts  of  the  Missionaries  to 

abolitionize  the  Indian  Country 

Otherwise  we  shall  have  a  great  run-away  harbor,  a  sort  of 

"Worcester  died,  April,  1859  [Missionary  Herald,  1859,  p.  187;  1860, 
p.  xa]. 

45  Missionary  Herald,  1859,  pp.  335-336;  1860,  p.  12;  The  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  Report,  1856,  p.  195. 

«  Report  of  C.  C.  Copeland,  1860. 

4T  Cooper  was  also  Chickasaw  agent.  On  the  fifth  of  October,  1854,  some 
of  the  principal  men  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation,  Cyrus  Harris,  James  Gamble, 
Sampson  Folsom,  Jackson  Frazier,  and  D.  Colbert,  petitioned  President  Pierce 
for  the  removal  of  Agent  Andrew  J.  Smith  on  charges  of  official  irregularity 
and  gross  immorality.  A  year  later,  Superintendent  Dean  reiterated  the 
charges.  Smith's  commission  was  revoked,  November  9,  1855;  and,  in  March, 
1856,  Cooper  was  assigned  the  Chickasaws  as  an  additional  charge.  Hence- 
forth, the  two  tribes  had  an  agent  in  common. 

48  This  note  itself  bore  no  date  but  there  is  documentary  proof  that  it  was 
received  at  Fort  Smith,  November  27,  1854.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  Indian 
Office  among  the  Fort  Smith  Papers. 


42       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Canada -with  "underground  rail-roads"  leading  to  &  through 
it  —  adjoining  Arkansas  and  Texas. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  look  to  the  General  Government  —  its  arm 
is  paralized  by  the  abolition  strength  of  the  North. 

I  see  no  way  except  secretly  to  induce  the  Choctaws  &  Chero- 
kees  &  Creeks  to  allow  slave-holders  to  settle  among  their  people 
&  control  the  movement  now  going  on  to  abolish  slavery  among 
them.  C — 

Cooper  sent  this  note,  in  1854,  as  a  private  memo- 
randum to  the  southern  superintendent,  who  at  the  time 
was  Charles  W.  Dean.  In  1859,  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  write  to  Dean's  successor,  Elias  Rector,  in  a  very 
different  tone.  The  missionaries  had  then  taken  the 
stand  he  himself  advocated  and  there  was  reason 
for  congratulation.  Under  such  circumstances,  Cooper 
wrote, 

I  cannot  close  this  report  without  calling  your  attention  to 
the  admirable  tone  and  feeling  pervading  the  reports  of  super- 
intendents of  schools  and  missionaries  among  the  Choctaws,  and 
particularly  to  that  of  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Hotchkin,  one  of  the 
oldest  missionaries  among  the  Choctaws,  who,  in  referring  to 
past  political  disturbances,  says:  "We  have  looked  upon  our 
rulers  as  the  'powers  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God,'  and  have 
respected  them  for  this  reason.  'Whomsoever,  therefore,  re- 
sisteth  the  power  resisteth  the  ordinance  of  God'  (Romans,  xiii, 
2).  This  has  been  our  rule  of  action  during  the  political  excite- 
ment. We  believe  that  the  Bible  is  the  best  guide  for  us  to  fol- 
low. Our  best  citizens  are  those  most  influenced  by  Bible 
truth." 

I  rejoice  to  believe  the  above  sentiments  are  entertained  by 
most,  if  not  all,  the  missionaries  now  among  the  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws,  and  that  they  entirely  repudiate  the  higher-law  doc- 
trine 49  of  northern  and  religious  fanatics.  It  is  but  lately,  as  I 
learn,  that  the  Choctaw  mission,  for  many  years  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions (whose  headquarters  are  at  Boston)  has  been  cut  off,  be- 

49  The  allusion  is,  of  course,  to  the  "higher  law"  doctrine  expressed  in 
Seward's  Senate  Speech  of  March  n,  1850. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  43 

cause  they  preferred  to  follow  the  teachings  of  the  Bible,  as  un- 
derstood by  them,  rather  than  obey  the  dogmas  contained  in  Dr. 
Treat's  letter  and  the  edicts  of  the  parent  board. 

It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  among  the  friends  of  the  old 
Choctaw  missionaries,  who  have  labored  for  thirty  years  among 
them,  and  intend  to  die  with  armor  on,  that  all  connection  with 
the  Boston  board  has  been  dissolved.  If  it  had  been  done  years 
ago,  when  their  freedom  of  conscience  and  of  missionary  action 
was  attempted  to  be  controlled  by  the  parent  board,  much  of  sus- 
picion, of  ill-feeling,  and  diminished  usefulness,  which  attached 
to  the  Choctaw  missionaries  in  consequence  of  their  connection 
with  and  sustenance  by  a  board  avowedly  and  openly  hostile  to 
southern  institutions,  would  have  been  prevented.50 


50  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1859,  pp.  190-191. 

The  letter  of  Dr.  Treat  referred  to  by  Agent  Cooper  is  herewith  given. 
It  is  accompanied  by  the  letter  that  covered  it  and  that  letter,  as  it  is  found 
among  the  Fort  Smith  Papers  in  the  United  States  Indian  Office,  bears  a  record 
to  the  effect  that  the  copy  of  it  was  transmitted  by  the  southern  superintendent 

to  Washington.  November  28,  1855. 

FORT  TOWSON  Nov.  16,  1855 

SIR:  I  have  the  pleasure  to  forward  a  copy  of  letter,  addressed  to 
the  Revd  S.  B.  Treat,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  by  C.  Kingsbury  and  others - 
Missionaries  among  the  Choctaws  -  and  request  the  same  may  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  Hon  Comr  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  information  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

The  letter  as  you  will  perceive  refers  to  an  exciting  and  highly 
important  subject -in  which  the  States  adjoining  the  Indian  Territory 
are  deeply  &  directly  interested,  as  well  as  the  Choctaw  People. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  the  expression  of  my  gratification  at  the  posi- 
tion assured  in  this  letter  by  the  old  and  valued  Missionaries  among  the 
Choctaws.  The  copy  was  handed  to  me  by  Revd  Cyrus  Kingsbury, 
one  of  the  signers  to  the  original  letter.  Respectfully 

DOUGLAS  H  COOPER,  U.  S.  Agent  for  Choctaws 
Hon.  C.  M.  Dean,  Supt.  Indian  Affairs, 

Ft  Smith. 

\Inclosure\  —  Copy 

PINE  RIDGE,  CHOC.  NA.  Nov.  15,  1855. 
REV.  S.  B.  TREAT,  Cor.  Secretary  of  the  A.B.C.F.M. 

Rev.  &  Dear  Brother,  When  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Wood  visited  us  as  a 
deputation  from  the  Prudential  Committee,  he  treated  us,  our  views,  and 
our  practice  so  kindly,  and  spoke  to  us  so  many  encouraging  words,  that 
we  were  constrained  to  meet  him  in  a  similar  spirit  of  concilliation. 
We  were  willing  to  re-examine  the  difference  in  views  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  which  for  a  long  time  had  existed  between  the  Committee 


44       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

In  the  next  year,  1860,  Cooper  was  still  sanguine  as 
to  affairs  among  the  Indians  of  his  agency  and  he  could 

and  ourselves,  and  to  see  if  there  was  not  common  ground  on  which 
we  could  stand  together. 

At  the  opening  of  the  meeting  at  Good  Water,  Mr.  Wood  laid  aside 
the  letter  of  June  22nd  '/48.  This  was  a  subject  we  were  not  to  dis- 
cuss. He  then  introduced,  by  way  of  compromise,  as  we  understood 
it,  certain  articles  to  show  that  there  were  principles,  or  modes  of  ex- 
pression, in  relation  to  slavery,  in  which  there  was  substantial  agree- 
ment. To  these  articles,  though  not  expressed  in  every  particular  as  we 
could  have  wished,  (and  after  some  of  them  had  been  modified  by  oral 
explanations,)  we  gave  our  assent,  for  the  sake  of  peace.  We 
hoped  it  would  put  an  end  to  agitation  on  a  subject  which  had  so  long 
troubled  us,  and  hindered  us  in  our  work.  We  took  it  for  granted  that 
the  Committee  had  yielded  certain  important  points,  insisted  on  in  the 
letter  of  June  22nd  '/48.  This  gladdened  our  hearts,  and  disposed  us  to 
meet  Mr.  Wood's  proposal  in  a  spirit  of  concilliation  and  confidence. 
We  are  not  skilled  in  diplomacy,  and  had  no  thought  that  we  were 
assenting  to  articles  which  would  be  considered  as  covering  the  whole 
ground  of  the  letter  of  June  22nd.  The  first  intimation  that  we  had 
been  mistaken,  was  from  a  statement  made  by  Mr.  Wood,  in  New  York, 
that  the  result  of  the  meeting  at  Good  Water  "involved  no  change  of 
views  or  action  on  the  part  of  the  Prudential  Committee  and  Secretaries." 

In  Mr.  Wood's  report  to  the  Pru.  Com.  which  was  read  at  Utica, 
the  Good  Water  document  was  placed  in  such  a  relation  to  other  state- 
ments, as  to  make  the  impression  that  we  had  given  our  full  and  willing 
assent  to  the  entire  letter  of  June  22d.  The  Com.  on  that  Report,  of 
which  Dr.  Beman  was  chairman,  say,  "The  great  end  aimed  at  by  the 
Pru.  Com.  in  their  correspondence  with  these  missions  for  several  years; 
and  by  the  Board  at  their  last  annual  meeting;  has  been  substantially 
accomplished." 

This  is  a  result  we  had  not  anticipated.  We  can  not  consent  to  be 
thus  made  to  sanction  principles  and  sentiments  which  are  contrary  to 
our  known,  deliberate,  and  settled  convictions  of  right,  and  to  what  we 
understand  to  be  the  teachings  of  the  word  of  God.  We  are  fully  con- 
vinced that  we  can  not  go  with  the  Committee  and  the  Board,  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  as  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  Missionaries  we  are 
to  deal  with  slavery.  We  believe  the  instructions  of  the  Apostles,  in 
relation  to  this  subject,  are  a  sufficient  guide,  and  that  if  followed  the 
best  interests  of  society,  as  well  as  of  the  Church,  will  be  secured. 

We  have  no  wish  to  give  the  Com.  or  the  Board  farther  trouble  on 
this  subject.  As  there  is  no  prospect  that  our  views  can  be  brought  to 
harmonize,  we  must  request  that  our  relations  to  the  A.B.C.F.M.  may  be 
dissolved  in  a  way  that  will  do  the  least  harm  to  the  Board,  and  to  our 
Mission. 

We  haA-e  endeavored  to  seek  Divine  guidance  in  this  difficult  matter, 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  45 

report  to  Rector,  unhesitatingly,  as  if  confident  of  offi- 
cial endorsement  both  at  Forth  Smith  and  at  Wash- 
ington,51 

Great  excitement  has  prevailed  along  the  Texas  border,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  incendiary  course  pursued  in  that  State  by  horse 
thieves  and  religious  fanatics ;  but  I  am  glad  to  say,  as  yet,  so  far 
as  I  am  informed,  no  necessity  has  existed  in  this  agency  for  the 
organization  of  "vigilance  committees"  .  .  .  No  doubt  we 
have  among  us  free-soilers;  perhaps  abolitionists  in  sentiment; 
but,  so  far  as  I  am  informed,  persons  from  the  North,  residing 
among  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  who  entertain  opinions  un- 
friendly to  our  system  of  domestic  slavery,  keep  their  opinions 
to  themselves  and  attend  to  their  legitimate  business.52 

George  Butler,  the  United  States  agent  for  the  Cher- 
okees,  seems  to  have  been,  no  less  than  Cooper,  an  ad- 
herent of  the  State  Rights  Party  and  an  upholder  of  the 

and  we  desire  to  do  that  which  shall  be  most  for  the  glory  of  our  Divine 
Master,  and  the  best  interests  of  his  cause  among  this  people.  We  re- 
gret the  course  we  feel  compelled  to  take,  but  we  can  see  no  other  relief 
from  our  present  embarassment.  Fraternally  and  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     C.  KINGSBURY       C.  C.  COPELAND 
C.  BYINGTON         O.  P.  STARK 

E.   HOTCHKIN 

51  That  the   Buchanan   administration  did  endorse  pro-slavery  policy  and 
actions  requires  no  proof  today.     The  findings  of  the  Covode  committee  of  in- 
vestigation,   1860,  are   in  themselves  sufficient  evidence,   were  other  evidence 
lacking,  of  the  intensely  partisan  and  corrupt  character  of  the  Democratic  re- 
gime just  prior  to  the  Civil  War.     Of  the  officials,  having  Indian  concerns  in 
charge,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
are,   for  present  purposes,   alone  important.     Buchanan's  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior was  Jacob  Thompson,  who  had  formerly  been  a  representative  in  Con- 
gress from  Mississippi  and  had  thrown  all  the  weight  of  his  influence  in  favor 
of  the  Lecompton  constitution  for  Kansas  [Rhodes,  J.  F.  History  of  the  United 
States,  vol.  ii,  277].     After  his  retirement  from  Buchanan's  cabinet,  Thompson 
served   as  commissioner  from  Mississippi,  working  in  North  Carolina  for  the 
accomplishment    of   secession   [Moore's   Rebellion   Record,    vol.   i,   5].     A.   B. 
Greenwood  of  Arkansas  was  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  in   Buchanan's 
time.     He   also  had   been  in  Congress  and,   while  there,   had  served   on   the 
House    Committee   of   Investigation    into   Brooks's    attack    upon    Sumner.     He 
formed  with  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia  the  minority  element  [Von  Hoist,  vol. 

v,  324]- 

52  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1860,  p.  129. 


46       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

institution  of  slavery.  In  1859,  he  ascribed  the  very 
great  material  progress  of  the  Cherokees  to  the  fact  that 
they  were  slaveholders.53  Slavery,  in  Butler's  opinion, 
had  operated  as  an  incentive  to  all  industrial  pursuits. 
To  an  extent  this  may  have  been  true,  since  all  Indians, 
no  matter  how  high  their  type,  have  an  aversion  for 
work.  As  Professor  Shaler  once  said,  they  are  the 
truest  aristocrats  the  world  has  ever  known.  But  the 
.  slaveholders  among  the  great  tribes  of  the  South  were, 
for  the  most  part,  the  half-breeds,  the  cleverest  and 
often,  much  as  we  may  regret  to  have  to  admit  it,  the 
most  unscrupulous  men  of  the  community. 

Butler's  commission  as  Indian  agent  expired  in 
March,  1860,  and  he  was  not  reappointed,  Robert  J. 
Cowart  of  Georgia54  being  preferred.  This  man,  illit- 
erate and  unprincipled,  immediately  set  to  work  to 
perform  a  task  to  which  his  predecessor  had  proved 
unequal.  The  task  was  the  removal  of  white  intruders 
from  the  Cherokee  country.  For  some  time  past,  the 
southern  superintendent  and  the  agents  under  him,  to 
say  nothing  of  Commissioner  Greenwood  and  Secretary 
Thompson,  the  one  a  citizen  of  Arkansas  and  the  other 
of  Mississippi,  had  resented  most  bitterly  the  invasion 
of  the  Cherokee  Neutral  Lands  by  Kansas  free-soilers 
and  the  division  of  it  into  counties  by  the  unlawfully 
assumed  authority  of  the  Kansas  legislature.  The  re- 
sentment was  thoroughly  justifiable;  for  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding of  the  legislature  was  contrary  to  the  express 
enactment  of  Congress;  but  no  doubt,  enthusiasm  for 
the  strict  enforcement  of  the  federal  law  came  largely 
from  political  predilections,  precisely  as  the  Kansan's 

53  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1859,  p.  172. 

54  Greenwood  to  Rector,  March  14,  1860  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  63, 
p.  128]  ;  Greenwood  to  Cowart,  March  14,  1860  [ibid.,  125]. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  47 

outrageous  defiance  of  it  came  from  a  deep-rooted  dis- 
trust of  the  Buchanan  administration. 

There  were,  however,  other  intruders  that  Cowart 
and  Rector  and  Greenwood  designed  to  remove  and 
they  wanted  to  remove  them  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  making  mischief  within  the  tribe  and  interfering 
with  its  institutions,  or,  more  specifically,  with  slavery. 
The  intruders  meant  were  principally  the  missionaries 
against  whom  Greenwood  had  even  the  audacity  to  lay 
the  charge  of  inciting  to  murder.  Newspapers  of  bor- 
dering slave  states  were  full  of  criticism,55  just  before 
the  war,  of  these  same  men  and,  notably,  of  the  Rev- 
erend Evan56  and  John  Jones,  the  reputed  ringleaders. 

65  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1860.  See  also  additional  docu- 
ments in  Appendix  B. 

56  The  following  extract  from  the  Fort  Smith  Times  of  February  3,  1859 
makes  particular  mention  of  the  Reverend  Evan  Jones: 

In  the  True  Democrat  of  the  i9th  inst.,  we  find  an  article  credited 
to  the  Fort  Smith  Times,  in  which  the  Rev.  Evan  Jones,  a  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary, residing  near  the  State  line,  Washington  county,  is  handled 
rather  roughly  so  far  as  words  are  concerned.  He  is  said  to  be  an  abo- 
litionist, and  a  very  dangerous  man,  meddling  with  the  affairs  of  the 
Cherokees,  and  teaching  them  abolition  principles. 

"As  such  reports  will  be  circulated  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Southern 
Baptists,  we  hereby  request  some  of  our  Brethren  in  the  northwest  part 
of  the  State  to  write  us  the  grounds  for  such  reports. 

"Is  the  *Rev.  Evan  Jones'  connected  with  any  Missionary  Society  and 
if  so,  what  one? 

"We  hope  shortly  to  hear  more  concerning  this  matter." 

The  above  notice  is  from  the  first  number  of  the  Arkansas  Baptist, 
a  new  paper  just  published  in  Little  Rock,  P.  S.  G.  Watson,  Editor.  It 
was  not  our  intention  to  cast  any  reflections  on  the  Baptist  Church  by 
noticing  the  Rev.  gentleman  named  above,  as  we  have  great  respect  for 
the  Church.  We  deny,  however,  that  Mr.  Jones  "is  handled  roughly 
so  far  as  words  are  concerned,"  for  there  are  no  harsh  words  or  epi- 
thets in  the  article  referred  to ;  but  he  is  handled  roughly  so  far  as  facts 
are  concerned.  He  is  a  Missionary  Baptist,  and  the  society  by  which  he 
is  supported,  has,  we  believe,  its  headquarters  in  Boston,  Mass.  Mr. 
Jones'  conduct  has  been  fully  reported  to  the  Indian  office,  at  Washing- 
ton, by  a  number  of  the  Cherokees,  and  by  their  Agent,  Mr.  George 
Butler,  to  whom  we  refer  the  editor  of  the  Baptist,  for  the  truth  of  the 


48       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

The  official  excuse  for  removing  them  is  rather  inter- 
esting because  it  is  so  similar  to  that  given,  some  thirty 
years  earlier,  in  connection  with  the  removal  from 
Georgia.  Ulterior  motives  can  so  easily  be  hidden 
under  cold  official  phrase. 

That  the  cause  of  slavery  within  the  Cherokee  coun- 
try was  in  jeopardy  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1860 
can  not  well  be  denied.  To  the  men  of  the  time  the 
evidence  was  easily  obtainable.  Almost  as  if  by  magic, 
a  "search  organization"  started  up  among  the  full- 
bloods,  an  organization  profoundly  secret  in  its  mem- 
bership and  in  its  purposes,  but  believed  to  be  for  no 
other  object  than  the  overthrow  of  the  "peculiar  insti- 
tution." Its  existence  was  promptly  reported  to  the 
United  States  government  and,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
the  missionaries  were  held  responsible  for  both  its  in- 
ception and  its  continuance.  It  was  then  that  Green- 
wood made57  his  most  serious  charge  against  these  men 
and  prepared,  under  color  of  law,  to  have  them  re- 
moved. Later,  in  this  same  year  of  1860,  Quantrill, 
the  Hagerstown,  Maryland  man  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch 
origin,  who  afterwards  became  such  a  notorious  fron- 
tier guerrilla  in  the  interests  of  the  Confederate  cause, 
leagued  himself  with  some  abolitionists  for  the  sake  of 

charges  we  have  made  against  him;    and,  if  they  are  not  satisfactory 

we  can  give  a  full  history  of  Evan  Jones'  conduct  for  a  number  of  years, 

well  known  among  the  Cherokees. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  newspaper  extract,  it  is  well  to  note  that 
Richard  Johnson  was  the  editor  of  the  True  Democrat.  Richard  was  a 
brother  of  Robert  W.  Johnson  who  represented  one  faction  of  the  Democratic 
parry  in  Arkansas  while  Thomas  C.  Hindman  represented  another.  This  was 
before  their  devotion  to  the  Confederate  cause  had  made  them  friends.  Robert 
W.  Johnson  served  in  the  United  States  Congress,  first  as  representative,  then 
as  senator.  He  was  later  a  senator  in  the  Confederate  States  Congress.  The 
Johnson  family,  although  not  so  numerous  as  the  Rector  family,  was,  like  it, 
strongly  secessionistic. 

57  Greenwood  to  Thompson,  June  4,  1860  [Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no. 
12,  pp.  323-324]- 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  49 

making  an  expedition  to  the  Cherokee  country  and 
rescuing  negroes,  there  held  in  bondage.58  The  timely 
distrust  of  Quantrill,  however,  caused  the  enterprise  to 
be  abandoned  even  before  its  preliminaries  had  been 
thoroughly  well  arranged;  yet,  had  the  rescue  been 
carried  to  completion,  it  would  not  have  been  entirely 
without  precedent59  and  its  very  contrivance  indicated 
an  uncertainty  and  a  precariousness  of  situation  south 
of  the  Kansas  line. 

Ever  since  their  compulsory  removal  from  Georgia 
under  circumstances  truly  tragic,  the  Cherokees  had 
been  much  given  to  factional  strife.  This  was  largely 
in  consequence  of  the  underhand  means  taken  by  the 
state  and  federal  authorities  to  accomplish  removal. 
The  Cherokees  had,  under  the  necessities  of  the  situa- 
tion, divided  themselves  into  the  Ross,  or  Anti-removal 
Party,  and  the  Ridge,  or  Treaty  Party.60  Removal  took 
place  in  spite  of  the  steady  opposition  of  the  Rossites 
and  the  Cherokees  went  west,  piloted  by  the  United 
States  army.  Once  in  the  west  a  new  division  arose  in 
their  ranks ;  for,  as  newcomers,  they  came  into  jealous 
contact  with  members  of  their  tribe  who  had  emigrated 
many  years  previously  and  who  came  to  figure,  in  sub- 
sequent Cherokee  history,  as  the  Old  Settlers'  Party.61 
In  1846,  the  United  States  government  attempted  to  as- 
sume the  role  of  mediator  in  a  settlement  of  Cherokee 
tribal  differences  but  without  much  success.62  The  old 
wrongs  were  unredressed,  so  the  old  divisions  remained 

58  Connelley,  Quantrill  and  the  Border  Wars,  147-149,  152. 

59  Siebert,  Underground  Railroad  from  Slavery  to  Freedom,  284. 

fto  This  party  came  to  be  known,  almost  exclusively,  as  the  Treaty  Party. 
After  the  murder  of  John  Ridge,  from  whom  the  party  took  its  name,  his 
nephew,  Stand  Watie,  became  its  leader.  Stand  Watie  figured  conspicuously 
on  the  southern  side  in  the  Civil  War. 

61 A  good  general  account  of  these  Cherokee  factional  disputes  may  be 
found  in  Thomas  Valentine  Parker's  Cherokee  Indians. 

62  Kappler,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  561;  Folk's  Diary  (Quaife's  edition),  vol.  ii,  80. 


50       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and  formed  nuclei  for  new  disintegrating  issues.  Thus, 
in  1857,  there  were  no  less  than  three  factions  created  in 
consequence  of  a  project  for  selling  the  Cherokee  Neu- 
tral Lands.63  Each  faction  had  its  own  opinion  how  best 
to  dispose  of  the  proceeds,  should  a  sale  take  place.  In 
1860,  there  were  two  factions,  the  selling  and  the  non- 
selling.64  This  tendency  of  the  Cherokees  perpetually 
to  quarrel  among  themselves  and  to  bear  long-standing 
grudges  against  each  other  is  most  important;  inasmuch 
as  that  marked  peculiarity  of  internal  politics  very 
largely  determined  the  unique  position  of  the  tribe  with 
reference  to  the  Civil  War. 

The  other  great  tribes  had  also  occasions  for  quarrel 
in  these  same  critical  years.  The  disgraceful  circum- 
stances of  their  removal  had  widened  the  gulf,  once 
simply  geographical,  between  the  Upper  and  the  Low- 
er Creeks.  They  were  now  almost  two  distinct  polit- 
ical entities,  in  each  of  which  there  were  a  principal 
and  a  second  chief.  In  1833,  provision  had  been  made 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  Seminoles  within  a  cer- 
tain definite  part  of  the  Creek  country65- just  such  an 
arrangement,  forsooth,  as  worked  so  ill  when  applied  to 
the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws;  but  it  took  several  years 
for  the  Seminoles  to  be  suited.  At  length,  when  their 
numbers  had  been  considerably  augmented  by  the  com- 
ing of  the  new  immigrants  from  Florida,  they  took  up 

63  George  Butler  to  Dean,  January  9,  1857. 

64  ".     .     .     The  Cherokee  Council  is  in  session,  tho  they  do  not  seem  to  be 
doing  much.     It  will  hold  about  four  weeks  yet.     I  will  stay  till  it  breaks.     I 
think  the  Councilmen  seem  to  be  split  on  some  questions.     It  seems  as  if  there 
are  two  parties,     one  is  called  the  land  selling  party  &  those  opposed  to  selling 
the  land   (that  is  Neutral  lands).     They  passed  a  bill  last  council  to  sell  it. 
Congress  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  it  &  in  fact  they  got  up  a  pro- 
test  against  selling  it  &  sent  it  to  Washington  City  &  they  did  not  sell  the 
land."  —  Extract  from  J.   C.   Dickinson   to   Captain  Mark  T.  Tatum,    dated 
Tahlequah,  October  16,  1860  [For/  Smith  Papers]. 

65  Kappler,  op.  cit.,  vol.  ii,  388. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  51 

their  position,  for  good  and  all,  in  the  southwestern  cor- 
ner of  the  Creek  Reserve,  a  politically  distinct  com- 
munity. By  that  time,  the  Creeks  seem  to  have  repent- 
ed of  their  generosity,66  so,  perhaps,  it  was  well  that  the 
United  States  government  had  not  yielded  to  their  im- 
portunity and  consented  to  a  like  settlement  of  the 
southern  Comanches.67  It  had  taken  the  Chickasaws  a 
long  time  to  reconstruct  their  government  after  the 
political  separation  from  the  Choctaws;  but  now  they 
had  a  constitution,68  all  their  own,  a  legislature,  and  a 
governor.  The  Choctaws  had  attempted  a  constitution, 
likewise,  first  the  Scullyville,  then  the  Doaksville,  set 
up  by  a  minority  party;  but  they  had  retained  some  sem- 
blance of  the  old  order  of  things  in  the  persons  of  their 
chiefs.69 

There  were  other  Indians  within  the  southern  divi- 
sion of  the  Indian  country  that  were  to  have  their  part 
in  the  Civil  War  and  in  events  leading  up  to  it  or  result- 
ing from  it.  In  the  extreme  northeastern  corner,  were 
the  Quapaws,  the  Senecas,  and  the  confederated  Senecas 
and  Shawnees,  all  members,  with  the  Osages  and  the 
New  York  Indians  of  Kansas,  of  the  Neosho  River 
Agency  which  was  under  the  care  of  Andrew  J.  Dorn. 
In  the  far  western  part,  at  the  base  of  the  Wichita 
Mountains,  were  the  Indians  of  the  Leased  District, 

66  Rector  to  Greenwood,  June  14,  1860. 

67  Tuckabatche   Micco   and   other   Creek   chiefs   wished  the  southern    Co- 
manches to  be  located  somewhere  between  the  Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers.     That 
might  or  might  not  have  meant  a  settlement  upon  the  actual  Creek  reservation. 
Manypenny  promised  to  look  into  the  matter  and  find  out  whether  there  were 
any  vacant  lands  in  the  region  designated  [Manypenny  to  Dean,  May  25,  1855, 
Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  51,  pp.  444-445]. 

68  Dean  to  Manypenny,  November  24,  1856,  and  related  documents  [General 
Files,  Chickasaw,  1854-1858,  0304,  1400]. 

69  For  Choctaw  political  disturbances  in  1858,  see  General  Files,  Choctaio, 
1859-1866,  1933   and  Rioo4. 


52       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Wichitas,  Tonkawas,70  Euchees,  and  others,  collectively 
called  the  "Reserve  Indians."  Most  of  them  had  been 
brought  from  Texas,71  because  of  Texan  intolerance  of 
their  presence,  and  placed  within  the  Leased  District, 
a  tract  of  land  west  of  the  ninety-eighth  meridian, 
which,  under  the  treaty  of  1855,  the  United  States  had 
rented  from  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws.  It  was  a 
part  of  the  old  Chickasaw  District  of  the  Choctaw  Na- 
tion. Outside  of  the  Wichita  Reserve  and  still  wander- 
ing at  large  over  the  plains  were  the  hostile  Kiowas  and 
Comanches,  against  whom  and  the  inoffensive  Reserve 
Indians,  the  Texans  nourished  a  bitter,  undying  hatred. 
They  charged  them  with  crimes  that  were  never  com- 
mitted and  with  some  crimes  that  white  men,  disguised 
as  Indians,  had  committed.  They  were  also  suspected 
of  manufacturing  evidence  that  would  incriminate  the 
red  men  and  of  plotting,  in  regularly-organized  meet- 
ings, their  overthrow.72 

Although  the  plan  for  colonizing  some  of  the  Texas 
Indians  had  been  completed  in  1855,  the  Indian  Office 
found  it  impossible  to  execute  it  until  the  summer  of 
1859.  This  was  principally  because  the  War  Depart- 
ment could  not  be  induced  to  make  the  necessary  mil- 
itary arrangements.73  In  point  of  fact,  the  southern  In- 

78  Some  of  the  Tonkawas  most  probably  went  back  to  their  old  Texan  hunt- 
ing-grounds upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  and  were  found  encamped,  in 
1866,  around  San  Antonio  [Cooley  to  Sells,  February  15,  1866,  Indian  Office, 
Letter  Book,  no.  79,  p.  293]. 

71  The  Leased  District  was  designed  to  accommodate  any  Indians  that  the 
United  States  government  might  see  fit  to  place  there,  exclusive  of  New  Mex- 
ican Indians,  who  had  caused  the  Wichitas  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  and  those 
tribes  "whose  usual  ranges  at  present  are  north  of  the  Arkansas  River,   and 
whose  permanent  locations   are  north  of  the   Canadian.     .     ."    [Kappler,  op. 
cit.,  vol.  ii,  708]. 

72  The  treatment  of  the  Indians  by  Texas  will  be  made  the  subject  of  a  later 
publication.     The  story  is  too  long  a  one  to  be  told  here. 

78  Mix  to  Rector,  March  30,  1859  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  60,  pp. 
386-388]. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  53 

dian  country  was,  at  the  time,  practically  without  a 
force  of  United  States  troops,  quite  regardless  of  the 
promise  that  had  been  made  to  all  the  tribes  upon  the 
occasion  of  their  removal  that  they  should  always  be 
protected  in  their  new  quarters  and,  inferentially,  by 
the  regular  army.  Even  Fort  Gibson  had  been  vir- 
tually abandoned  as  a  military  post  on  the  plea  that  its 
site  was  unhealthful;  and  all  of  Superintendent  Rec- 
tor's recommendations  that  Frozen  Rock,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Arkansas  a  few  miles  away,  be  substituted74 
had  been  ignored,  not  so  much  by  the  Interior  Depart- 
ment, as  by  the  War.  Secretary  Thompson  thought  that 
enough  troops  should  be  at  his  disposal  to  enable  him 
to  carry  out  the  United  States  Indian  policy,  but  Secre- 
tary Floyd  demurred.  He  was.  rather  disposed  to  dis- 
mantle such  forts  as  there  were  and  to  withdraw  all 
troops  from  the  Indian  frontier,75  a  course  of  action  that 
would  leave  it  exposed,  so  the  dissenting  Thompson 
prognosticated,  to  "the  most  unhappy  results." 7a 

It  happened  thus  that,  when  the  United  States  sur- 
veyors started  in  1858  to  establish  the  line  of  the  ninety- 
eighth  meridian  west  longitude  and  to  run  other  boun- 
dary lines  under  the  treaty  of  1855,"  they  found  the 
country  entirely  unpatrolled.  Troops  had  been  ordered 
from  Texas  to  protect  the  surveyors;  but,  pending  their 
arrival,  Agent  Cooper,  who  had  gone  out  to  witness  the 

74  Annual  Report,  1857. 

75  Samuel  Cooper,  the  New  York  man,  who  was  now  in  United  States  em- 
ploy but  later  became  adjutant-general  of  the  Confederacy  [Crawford,  Genesis 
of  the  Civil  War,  310],  made,  about  this  time,  a  very  significant  inquiry  as  to 
how  many  Indian  warriors  there  were  in  the   vicinity  of  the  various  settle- 
ments  [Cooper  to  Mix,  January  29,   1856,  Indian  Office,  Miscellaneous  Files, 
1858-1863']. 

76  J.  Thompson  to  J.  B.  Floyd,  March  12,  1858  [Indian  Office,  Miscellaneous 
Files'}. 

77  By  this  treaty,  the  Choctaws  had  surrendered  to  the  United  States  all  their 
claims  to  land  beyond  the  one  hundredth  degree  of  west  longitude. 


54       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

determination  of  the  initial  point  on  the  line  between 
his  agency  and  the  Leased  District,  himself  took  post  at 
Fort  Arbuckle  and  called  upon  the  Indians  for  patrol 
and  garrison  duty.78  It  would  seem  that  Secretary 
Thompson  had  verbally  authorized79  Cooper  to  make 
this  use  of  the  Indians;  but  they  proved  in  the  sequel 
very  inefficient  as  garrison  troops.  On  the  thirtieth  of 
June,  Lieutenant  Powell,  commanding  Company  E, 
First  United  States  Infantry,  arrived  at  Fort  Arbuckle 
from  Texas  and  relieved  Cooper  of  his  self-imposed 
task.  The  day  following,  Cooper  set  out  upon  a  sixteen 
day  scout  of  the  Washita  country,  taking  with  him  his 
Indian  volunteers, Chickasaws80  and  a  few  Cherokees;81 
and  for  this  act  of  using  Indian  after  the  arrival  of 
white  troops,  he  was  severely  criticized  by  the  depart- 
ment. One  thing  he  accomplished:  he  selected  a  site 
for  the  prospective  Wichita  Agency  with  the  recom- 
mendation that  it  be  also  made  the  site82  of  the  much- 
needed  military  post  on  the  Leased  District.  The  site 
had  originally  been  occupied  by  a  Kechie  village  and 
was  admirably  well  adapted  for  the  double  purpose 
Cooper  intended.  It  lay  near  the  center  of  the  Leased 

78  Cooper  to  Rector,  June  23,  1858. 

79  Cooper  to  Rector,  June  30,  1858. 

80  Some  of  the  Chickasaws  came  to  Cooper  under  the  lead  of  the  United 
States  interpreter,  James  Gamble,  later  Chickasaw  delegate  in  the  Confederate 
Congress. 

81  The  Cherokees  soon  deserted  Cooper,  no  cause  assigned.    Why  they  were 
with  him  at  all  can  not  very  easily  be  explained  unless  they  were  looking  out 
for  the  interests  of  the  "Cherokee  Outlet."     They  may,  indeed,  have  been  some 
refugee  Cherokees  who,   in   1854,  were   reported  as  living  in  the  Chickasaw 
country  and  consorting  with  horse  thieves  and  other  desperadoes.     Under  or- 
dinary  circumstances,    Cooper    had   no   authority   to  command   the    actions  of 
Cherokees  and  his  call  was  to  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  whose  agent  he  was 
and  whose  interests  were  directly  involved  in  the  survey  then  being  made. 

82  On  the  question  of  the  proposed  site,  see  Rector's  Report,  1859,  pp.  307, 
309.     For  Emory's  familiarity  with  the  region,  note  his  report  of  a  military 
reconnaissance  undertaken  by  him  in  1846  and  1847  [Pacific  Railroad  Surveys, 
vol.  ii]. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  55 

District  and  near  the  sources  of  Cache  and  Beaver 
Creeks.  It  was  also,  so  reported  Cooper,  "not  very  dis- 
tant from  the  Washita,  &  Canadian"  (and  commanded) 
"the  Mountain  passes  through  the  Wichita  Mountains 
to  the  Antelope  Hills -to  the  North  branch  of  Red 
River  and  also  the  road  on  the  South  side  of  the  Wich- 
ita Mountains  up  Red  River." 

The  colonization  of  the  Wichitas  and  other  Indians 
took  place  in  the  summer  of  1859  under  the  excitement 
of  new  disputes  with  Texas,  largely  growing  out  of  an 
unwarranted  and  brutal  attack83  by  white  men  upon  In- 
dians of  the  Brazos  Agency.  That  event  following  so 
closely  upon  the  heels  of  Van  Dorn's84  equally  brutal 
attack  upon  a  defenceless  Comanche  camp  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis  and  the  government  was  forced  to  be 
expeditious  where  it  had  previously  been  dilatory.  The 
Comanches  had  come  in,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  confer 
in  a  friendly  way  with  the  Wichitas.  Van  Dorn,  igno- 
rant of  their  purpose  but  supposing  it  hostile,  made  a 
forced  march,  surprised  them,  and  mercilessly  took 
summary  vengeance  for  all  the  Comanches  had  been 
charged  with,  whether  justly  or  unjustly,  for  some  time 
past.  After  it  was  all  over,  the  Comanches,  with  about 
sixty  of  their  number  slain,  accused  the  Wichitas  of  hav- 
ing betrayed  them.  Frightened,  yet  innocent,  the 

83  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1859,  and  accompanying  docu- 
ments. 

84  It  would   seem  that  Van  Dorn  had  been  ordered  by  General  Twiggs, 
commanding  in  Texas,  to  explore  the  country  between  the  one  hundredth  and 
the  one  hundred  and  fourth  meridians  as  far  north   as  the  Canadian  River. 
He  was  to  do   it   quite   irrespective  of  department  jurisdictional  lines.     Van 
Dorn  had  the  Texan's  unrelenting  hatred  for  all  Indians  and,  as  was  to  have 
been   expected,   considering  the   latitude  of  his  orders,  soon   got  himself  into 
trouble.     It  is  interesting  to  note   in  connection  with   this  affair  and  in  view 
of  all  that  followed  when  Van  Dorn  and  Albert  Pike  were  both  serving  under 
the  Confederacy,  that  their  dislike  of  each  other  dated  from  Pike's  condemna- 
tion of  Van  Dorn's  cruel  treatment  of  the  Comanches. 


56       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Wichitas  begged  that  there  be  no  further  delay  in  their 
removal,  so  the  order  was  given  and  arrangements 
made.  Unfortunately,  by  the  time  everything  was 
ready,  the  season  was  pretty  far  advanced  and  the  In- 
dians reached  their  new  home  to  find  it  too  late  to  put  in 
crops  for  that  year's  harvest.  Subsistence  rations  had, 
therefore,  to  be  doled  out  to  them,  the  occasion  afford- 
ing, as  always,  a  rare  opportunity  for  graft.  Instead  of 
calling  for  bids,  as  was  customary,  Superintendent  Rec- 
tor entered  into  a  private  contract85  with  a  friend  and 
relative  of  his  own,  the  consequence  being  that  the  gov- 
ernment was  charged  an  exorbitant  price  for  the  rations. 
Soon  other  troubles86  came.  The  Leased  District 
proved  to  be  already  occupied  by  some  northern  Indian 
refugees87  and  became,  as  time  went  on,  a  handy  ren- 

85  The  contractor  was  Charles  B.  Johnson  of  Fort  Smith.     Under  the  firm 
name  of  Johnson  &  Grimes,  this  man  and  Marshal  Grimes,  also  of  Arkansas, 
were  able    again  and   again  to  secure  subsistence  contracts  from  Rector  and 
always  with  the  suspicion  of  fraud  attaching.     Whenever  possible,  Rector  and 
his  friends  eliminated  entirely  the  element  of  competition.     Abram  G.  Mayers 
of  Fort  Smith  seems  to  have  been  the  chief   informer  against  Rector.     As  a 
matter  of  fact,  and  this  must  be  admitted  in  extenuation  of  Rector's  conduct, 
the  Indian  field  service  was  so  grossly  mismanaged,  officials  from  the  highest 
to  the  lowest  were  so  corrupt,  that  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  each  one 
[unless  by  the  merest  chance  he  were  strong  enough  morally  to  resist  tempta- 
tion] took  every  opportunity  he  could  get  to  enrich  himself  at  the  Indian's  ex- 
pense; for,  of  course,  all  such  ill-gotten  gains  came  sooner  or  later  out  of  the 
Indian  fund.     Very  few  Indian  officials  seem  to  have  been  able  to  pass  muster 
in  matters  of  probity  during  these  troublous  times.     Secretary  Thompson  and 
even  Ex-president  Pierce  were  not  above  suspicion  in  the  Indian's  estimation 
[Article,  signed  by  "Screw  Fly"  in  the  Chickasaiu  and  Choctaw  Herald,  Feb- 
ruary n,  1859].    Mix  was  accused  of  dishonesty,  so  were  Commissioner  Dole, 
Commissioner  Cooley,  and  Secretary  Usher,  to  say  nothing  of  a  host  of  lesser 
officials. 

86  Supervising  agent,  Robert  S.  Neighbors,  who  had  always  befriended  the 
Indians  when  he  conveniently  could  against  unfounded  charges,  was  killed  soon 
after  the  removal  by  vindictive  Texans.     S.  A.  Blain  was  then  given  charge 
of  the  Texas  superintendency  in  addition  to  his  own  Wichita  Agency.     The 
consolidation   of  duties  gave   the  Texans,    apparently,   a  fresh  opportunity  to 
lodge  complaints  against  the  Wichitas. 

87  These  refugees  were  mostly  Delawares  and  Kickapoos.    There  were  oth- 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  57 

dezvous  for  free  negroes;  but,  as  soon  as  Matthew 
Leeper88  of  Texas  became  agent,  the  stay  of  such  was 
extremely  short.89 

Such  were  the  conditions  obtaining  among  the  In- 
dians west  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas  in  the  years  imme- 
diately antedating  the  American  Civil  War;  and,  from 
such  conditions,  it  may  readily  be  inferred  that  the  In- 
dians were  anything  but  satisfied  with  the  treatment  that 
had  been  and  was  being  accorded  them.  They  owed  no 
great  debt  of  gratitude  to  anybody.  They  were  restless 
and  unhappy  among  themselves.  Their  old  way  of  liv- 
ing had  been  completely  disorganized.  They  had  noth- 
ing to  go  upon,  so  far  as  their  relations  with  the  white 
men  were  concerned,  to  make  them  hopeful  of  anything 
better  in  the  future,  rather  the  reverse.  Indeed  at  the 
very  opening  of  the  year  1860,  a  year  so  full  of  distress 
to  them  because  of  the  great  drouth90  that  ravaged  Ne- 

er  "strays,"  or  "absentees,"  scattered  here  and  there  over  the  Indian  country. 
There  were  Shawnees  near  the  Canadian,  Delawares  among  the  Cherokees,  and 
Shawnees  and  Kickapoos  on  the  southwestern  border  of  the  Creek  lands. 

88  Matthew  Leeper  was  appointed  to  succeed  S.  A.  Blain  as  agent,  July, 
1860.     He  had  previously  been  special  Indian  agent  in  Texas. 

89  Among  the  Leeper  Papers  is  found  the  following: 

Notice:  All  free  negroes  are  notified  to  leave  the  Wichita  Reserve 
or  Leased  District  forthwith,  except  an  old  negro  who  is  in  charge  of 
Messrs.  Grimes  &  Rector,  who  will  be  permitted  to  remain  a  few  days. 

[M.  LEEPER],  U.  S.  Ind.  Agt. 
Wichita  Agency,  L.D.  Sept.  26,  1860. 

80  The  suffering  among  the  Indians  must  have  been  very  great  There 
was  a  complete  failure  of  crops  everywhere.  Subsistence  had  to  be  continued 
to  the  Wichitas,  the  Seminoles  were  reported  absolutely  destitute,  and  even  the 
provident  Choctaws  were  obliged  to  memorialize  Congress  for  relief  on  the 
basis  of  the  Senate  award  under  their  treaty  of  1855  [General  Files,  Choctaiv, 
1859-1866'].  Out  of  this  application  of  Choctaw  funds  to  the  circumstances 
of  their  own  pressing  needs,  came  the  great  scandal  of  the  Choctaw  Corn 
Contract,  in  which  Agent  Cooper  and  many  prominent  men  of  the  tribe  were 
implicated.  In  some  way  Albert  Pike  was  concerned  in  it  also;  but  it  must 
have  been  practically  the  only  time  a  specific  charge  of  anything  like  peculation 
could  possibly  have  been  brought  against  any  of  his  transactions.  His  char- 
acter for  honesty  seems  to  have  been  impeccable. 


58       The  Indian  as  ^Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

braska,  Kansas,  and  Oklahoma,  the  worst  that  had  been 
known  in  thirty  years,  there  came  occasion  for  a  new 
distrust.  Proposals  were  made  to  the  Creeks,91  to  the 
Choctaws,92  and  to  the  Chickasaws  to  allot  their  lands  in 
severalty,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  one  of  the  in- 
ducements offered  by  President  Jackson  to  get  them 
originally  to  remove  had  been,  that  they  should  be  per- 
mitted to  hold  their  land,  as  they  had  always  held  it,  in 
common,  forever.  The  Creeks  now  replied  to  the  pro- 
posals of  the  Indian  Office  that  they  had  had  experience 
with  individual  reservations  in  their  old  eastern  homes 
and  had  good  reason  to  be  prejudiced  against  them. 
The  Indians,  one  and  all,  met  the  proposals  with  a 
downright  refusal  but  they  did  not  forget  that  they  had 
been  made,  particularly  when  there  came  additional 
cause  for  apprehension. 

The  cause  for  apprehension  came  with  the  presiden- 
tial campaign  of  1860  and  from  a  passage  in  Seward's 
Chicago  speech,93  "The  National  Idea;  Its  Perils  and 
Triumphs,"  expressive  of  opinions,  false  to  the  national 
trust  but  favorable  to  expansion  in  the  direction  of  the 
Indian  territory,  most  inopportune,  to  say  the  least,  and 
foolish.  Seward  probably  spoke  in  the  enthusiasm  of 
a  heated  moment;  for  the  obnoxious  sentiment,  "The 
Indian  territory,  also,  south  of  Kansas,  must  be  vacated 
by  the  Indians,"  was  very  different  in  its  tenor  from 
equally  strong  expressions  in  his  great  Senate  speech 94 

91  In  January,   1860,   Agent   Garrett   asked   the   Creeks   in   their   National 
Council  to  consent  to  the  apportionment  of  the  tribal  lands.     Motty  Cunard 
[Motey  Kennard]  and  Echo  Mayo  [Echo  Harjo]  sent  the  reply  of  the  Council 
to  Garrett,  January  19,   1860.     It  was  an  unqualified  and  absolute  refusal. 

92  Cooper  to  Greenwood,  March  31,   1860  [General  Files,  Choctazv,  1859- 
1866,  C445], 

»3  George  E.  Baker,  Works  of  W.  H.  Seward  (edition  of  1884),  vol.  iv, 
363 ;  Bancroft's  Seward,  vol.  ii,  460-470. 

94  Congressional  Globe,  33rd  congress,  first  session,  Appendix,  p.  155. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  59 

on  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  February  17,  1854.  I* 
soon  proved,  however,  easy  of  quotation  by  the  seces- 
sionists in  their  arguments  with  the  Indians,  it  being 
offered  by  them  as  incontestable  proof  that  the  designs 
of  the  incoming  administration  were,  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, inimical  to  Indian  treaty  rights.  At  the  time  of 
its  utterance,  the  Indians  were  intensely  excited.  The 
poor  things  had  had  so  many  and  such  bitter  experi- 
ences with  the  bad  faith  of  the  white  people  that  it  took 
very  little  to  arouse  their  suspicion.  They  had  been  told 
to  contract  their  domain  or  to  move  on  so  often  that  they 
had  become  quite  super-sensitive  on  the  subject  of  land 
cessions  and  removals.  Seward's  speech  was  but  an- 
other instance  of  idle  words  proving  exceedingly  fate- 
ful. 

Two  facts  thus  far  omitted  from  the  general  survey 
and  reserved  for  special  emphasis  may  now  be  remarked 
upon.  They  will  show  conclusively  that  there  were 
personal  and  economic  reasons  why  the  Indians,  some 
of  them  at  least,  were  drawn  irresistibly  towards  the 
South.  The  patronage  of  the  Indian  Office  has  always 
been  more  or  less  of  a  local  thing.  Communities  ad- 
joining Indian  reservations  usually  consider,  and  with 
just  cause  because  of  long-established  practice,  that  all 
positions  in  the  field  service,  as  for  example,  agencies 
and  traderships,  are  the  perquisites,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
locality.  It  was  certainly  true  before  the  war  that 
Texas  and  Arkansas  had  some  such  understanding  as  to 
Indian  Territory,  for  only  southerners  held  office  there 
and,  from  among  the  southerners,  Texans  and  Arkan- 
sans  received  the  preference  always.  It  happened  too 
that  the  higher  officials  in  Washington  were  almost  in- 
variably southern  men. 

The  granting  of  licenses  to  traders  rested  with  the 


60       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

superintendent  and  everything  goes  to  show  that,  in  the 
fifties  and  sixties,  applications  for  license  were  scrutin- 
ized very  closely  by  the  southern  superintendents  with 
a  view  to  letting  no  objectionable  person,  from  the 
standpoint  of  southern  rights,  get  into  the  territory. 
The  Holy  See  itself  could  never  have  been  more  vig- 
ilant in  protecting  colonial  domains  against  the  intro- 
duction of  heresy.  The  same  vigilance  was  exercised 
in  the  hiring  of  agency  employees,  blacksmiths,  wheel- 
wrights, and  the  like.  Having  full  discretionary  power 
in  the  premises,  the  superintendents  could  easily  inter- 
pret the  law  to  suit  themselves.  They  could  also  evade 
it  in  their  own  interests  and  frequently  did  so.  One 
notorious  case95  of  this  sort  came  up  in  connection  with 
Superintendent  Drew,  who  gave  permits  to  his  friends 
to  "peddle"  in  the  Indian  country  without  requiring  of 
them  the  necessary  preliminary  of  a  bond.  Traders  once 
in  the  country  had  tremendous  influence  with  the  In- 
dians, especially  with  those  of  a  certain  class  whom  or- 
dinarily the  missionaries  could  not  reach.  Then,  as  be- 
fore and  since,  Indian  traders  were  not  men  of  the  high- 
est moral  character  by  any  means.  Too  often,  on  the  con- 
trary, they  were  of  degraded  character,  thoroughly  un- 
scrupulous, proverbial  for  their  defiance  of  the  law,  gen- 
eral illiteracy,  and  corrupt  business  practices.  It  stands  to 
reason  that  such  men,  if  they  had  themselves  been  select- 
ed with  an  eye  single  to  the  cause  of  a  particular  section 
and  knew  that  solicitude  in  its  interests  would  mean 
great  latitude  to  themselves  and  favorable  reports  of 
themselves  to  the  department  at  Washington,  would 
spare  no  efforts  and  hesitate  at  no  means  to  make  it  their 
first  concern,  provided,  of  course,  that  it  did  not  inter- 
fere with  their  own  monetary  schemes. 

95  Dean  to  Manypenny,  October  24,  1855  [Dean's  Letter  Book']. 


The  Indian  Country,  1830-1860  61 

To  cap  the  climax,  the  last  and  greatest  circumstance 
to  be  noted,  if  only  because  of  the  great  weight  it  car- 
ried with  the  Indians  when  it  was  brought  into  the  argu- 
ment by  the  secessionists,  is  that  practically  all  of  the 
Indian  money  held  in  trust  for  the  individual  tribes  by 
the  United  States  government  was  invested  in  southern 
stocks;96  in  Florida  7's,  in  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisi- 
ana, Maryland,  South  Carolina,  Missouri,  Virginia, 
and  Tennessee  6's,  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  $Js, 
and  the  like.  To  tell  the  truth,  only  the  merest  mini- 
mum of  it  was  secured  by  northern  bonds.  The  south- 
erners asserted  for  the  Indians'  benefit,  that  all  these 
securities  would  be  forfeited97  by  the  war.  Sufficient 

9«  INDIAN  TRUST  FUND 

List  of  stocks  held  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  trust  for  Indian 

tribes 

STATE                                                           PER  CENT  AMOUNT 

Arkansas         .....  5  $        3,000.00 

Florida            .....  7  132,000.00 

Georgia           .             .                          .             .  6  3,500.00 

Indiana           .....  5  70,000.00 

Kentucky         .....  5  183,000.00 

Louisiana        .....  6  37,000.00 

Maryland*      .....  6  131,611.82 

Missouri          .....  $%  63,000.00 

Missouri          .!•*'!'            .             .  6  484,000.00 

North   Carolina          ....  6  562,000.00 

Ohio    .             .            .  f                      .            .  6  150,000.00 

Pennsylvania*            .             .             .             .  5  96,000.00 

South  Carolina           .             .            .            .  6  125,000.00 

Tennessee       .....  5  218,000.00 

Tennessee       .             .             .             .             .  6  143,000.00 

United   States             .            .            .             .  6  251,330.00 

Virginia          ..                           .             .             .  6  796,800.00 


3,449,241.82 

*  Taxed  by  the  State. 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1859,  p.  452. 

97  David  Hubbard  to  Ross  and  McCulloch,  June  12,  1861   [Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  xiii,  497]. 


62       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

is  the  fact,  that  the  position  of  the  Indians98  was  un- 
questionably difficult.  With  so  much  to  draw  them 
southward,  our  only  wonder  is,  that  so  many  of  them 
stayed  with  the  North. 


98  The  position  of  the  tribes  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Indian  country,  in 
Kansas,  was  considerably  different  from  that  of  the  tribes  in  the  southern  part, 
in  Oklahoma.  Each  of  the  great  tribes  to  the  southward  had  a  government 
of  its  own  that  was  modelled  very  largely  upon  that  of  the  various  states. 
The  tribes  to  the  northward  had  retained,  unchanged  in  essentials,  their  old 
tribal  community  government.  Moreover,  they  had  already  been  obliged  to 
allow  themselves  to  be  circumscribed  by  territorial  lines,  soon  to  be  state  lines; 
their  integrity  had  been  broken  in  upon ;  and  now  they  were  not  of  sufficient 
importance  to  have,  either  individually  or  collectively,  anything  to  say  about 
the  sectional  affiliation  of  Kansas.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  never  so  much 
as  attempted  to  take  general  tribal  action  in  the  premises.  Neither  their  situa- 
tion nor  their  political  organization  permitted  it. 


II.     INDIAN  TERRITORY  IN  ITS  RELA- 
TIONS WITH  TEXAS  AND  ARKANSAS 

For  the  participation  of  the  southern  Indians  in  the 
American  Civil  War,  the  states  of  Texas  and  Arkansas 
were  more  than  measurably  responsible.  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, or  that  part  of  the  Indian  country  that  was  his- 
torically known  as  such,  lay  between  them.  Its  south- 
ern frontage  was  along  the  Red  River;  and  that  stream, 
flowing  with  only  slight  sinuosity  downward  to  its  junc- 
tion with  the  Mississippi,  gave  to  Indian  Territory  a 
long  diagonal,  controlled,  as  far  as  situation  went,  en- 
tirely by  Texas.  Texas  lay  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 
and  she  lay  also  on  almost  the  whole  western  border  of 
Indian  Territory."  She  was,  consequently,  in  posses- 
sion of  a  rare  opportunity,  geographically,  for  exercis- 
ing influence,  should  need  for  such  ever  arise.  Running 
parallel  with  the  Red  River  and  northward  about  one 
hundred  miles,  was  the  Canadian.  Between  the  two 
rivers  were  three  huge  Indian  reservations,  the  most 
western  was  the  Leased  District  of  the  Wichitas  and 
allied  bands,  the  middle  one  was  the  Chickasaw,  and 
the  eastern,  the  Choctaw.100  The  Indian  occupants  of 
these  three  reservations  were,  therefore,  and  sometimes 
to  their  sorrow,  be  it  said,  the  very  next  door  neighbors 

99  An   interruption  to   this   came  in  the  shape   of  the  indefinitely   defined 
"Cherokee  Outlet,"  which  lay  north  of  Texas   and   in  addition  occupied  the 
northern  part  of  Indian  Territory. 

100  The  subjoined  map  will  illustrate  the  relative  position  of  the  individual 
Indian   reservations.     Although   published  in    1867,   it  is  not  correct   for  that 
date  but  is  fairly  correct  for  1861.     The  "reconstruction  treaties"  of  1866  made 
various  changes  in  the  Indian  boundaries  but  the  map  takes  no  account  of  them. 


64       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

of  the  Texans.  The  Choctaws  were,  likewise,  the  next 
door  neighbors  of  the  Arkansans  who  joined  them  on 
the  east;  but  the  relations  between  Arkansans  and  Choc- 
taws  seem  not  to  have  been  so  close  or  so  constant  dur- 
ing the  period  before  the  war  as  were  the  relations  be- 
tween the  Choctaws  and  the  Texans  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  Cherokees  and  the  Arkansans  on  the  other. 

The  Cherokees  dwelt,  like  the  Choctaws,  over  against 
Arkansas  but  north  of  the  Canadian  River  and  in  close 
proximity  to  Fort  Smith,  the  headquarters  of  the  South- 
ern Superintendency.101  Their  territory  was  not  so  com- 
pactly placed  as  was  the  territory  of  the  other  tribes; 
and,  in  its  various  parts,  it  passes,  necessarily,  under 
various  designations.  There  was  the  "Cherokee  Out- 
let," a  narrow  tract  south  of  Kansas  that  had  no  definite 
western  limit.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  passage  way  to 
the  hunting  grounds  of  the  great  plains  beyond.  Then 
there  was  the  "Cherokee  Strip,"  the  Kansas  extension 
of  the  outlet,  and  for  most  of  its  extent  originally  and 
legally  a  part  of  it.  The  territorial  organization  of 
Kansas  had  made  the  two  distinct.  Finally,  as  respects 
the  more  insignificant  portions  of  the  Cherokee  domain, 
there  were  the  "Cherokee  Neutral  Lands,"  already  suf- 
ficiently well  commented  upon.  They  were  insignifi- 
cant, not  in  point  of  acreage  but  of  tribal  authority  oper- 
ating within  them.  They  lay  in  the  southeastern  corner 
of  Kansas  and  constituted,  against  their  will  and  against 
the  law,  her  southeastern  counties.  They  were  separat- 
ed, to  their  own  discomfiture  and  disadvantage,  from 
the  Cherokee  Nation  proper  by  the  reservation  of  the 
Quapaws,  of  the  Senecas,  and  of  the  confederated  Sen- 
ecas  and  Shawnees.  This  Cherokee  Nation  lay,  as  has 

u  Van  Buren  had  a  short  time  previously  been  the  headquarters  of  the 
Southern  Superintendency. 


COLONEL  DOWNING,  CHEROKEE 

[From    Smithsonian  Institution,   Bureau   of   American 
Ethnology] 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  67 

already  been  indicated,  over  against  Arkansas  and  north 
of  the  northeastern  section  of  the  Choctaw  country. 
The  Arkansas  River  formed  part  of  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  two  tribal  domains.  So  much  then  for  the 
location  of  the  really  great  tribes,  but  where  were  the 
lesser? 

The  Quapaws,  the  Senecas,  and  the  confederated  Sen- 
ecas  and  Shawnees,  the  most  insignificant  of  the  lesser, 
occupied  the  extreme  northeastern  corner  of  Indian 
Territory  and,  therefore,  bordered  upon  the  southwest- 
ern corner  of  Missouri.  The  Creeks  lived  between  the 
Arkansas  River,  inclusive  of  its  Red  Fork,  and  the  Can- 
adian River,  having  the  Cherokees  to  the  east  and  north 
of  them,  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  to  the  south,  and 
the  Seminoles  to  the  southwest,  between  the  Canadian 
and  its  North  Fork.  The  Indians  of  the  Leased  Dis- 
trict have  already  been  located. 

In  the  years  preceding  the  Civil  War,  the  interest  of 
Texas  and  of  Arkansas  in  Indian  Territory  manifested 
itself,  not  in  a  covetous  desire  to  dispossess  the  Indians 
of  their  lands,  as  was,  unfortunately  for  national  honor, 
the  case  in  Kansas,  but  in  an  effort  to  keep  the  actual 
country  true  to  the  South,  settled  by  slaveholders,  In- 
dian or  white,  as  occasion  required  or  opportunity  of- 
fered. When  sectional  affairs  became  really  tense  after 
the  formation  of  the  Republican  Party,  they  redoubled 
their  energies  in  that  direction,  working  always  through 
the  rich,  influential,  and  intelligent  half-breeds,  some 
of  whom  had  property  interests  and  family  connections 
in  the  states  operating  upon  them.102  The  half-breeds 
were  essentially  a  planter  class,  institutionally  more 

102  \ye  £n(j  that  th;s  intimate  intercourse  extended  even  to  things  scholas- 
tic; for,  though  there  were  plenty  of  female  seminaries,  so-called,  within  In- 
dian Territory,  Indian  girls  regularly  attended  similar  institutions  in  Fayette- 
ville  [Bishop,  A.  W.,  Loyalty  on  the  Frontier,  143]. 


68        The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

truly  so  than  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  border  slave 
states.  It  is  therefore  not  surprising  that,  during  the 
excitement  following  Abraham  Lincoln's  nomination 
and  election,  identically  the  same  political  agencies 
worked  among  them  as  among  their  white  neighbors 
and  events  in  Indian  Territory  kept  perfect  pace  with 
events  in  adjoining  states. 

The  first  of  these  that  showed  strong  sectional  ten- 
dencies came  in  January,  1861,  when  the  Chickasaws, 
quite  on  their  own  initiative  apparently,  met  in  a  called 
session  of  their  legislature  to  consider  how  best  the 
great  tribes  might  conduct  themselves  with  reference  to 
the  serious  political  situation  then  shaping  itself  in  the 
United  States.  There  is  some  evidence  that  the  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle  had  been  active  among  the  Indians 
as  they  had  been  in  Arkansas103  during  the  course  of  the 
late  presidential  campaign.  At  all  events,  the  red  men 
knew  full  well  of  passing  occurrences  among  their 
neighbors  and  they  certainly  knew  how  matters  were 
progressing  in  Texas.  There  the  State  Rights  Party 
was  asserting  itself  in  no  doubtful  terms.  For  the  time 
being,  however,  the  Chickasaws  contented  themselves 
with  simply  passing  an  act,104  January  5,  suggesting 

103  Bishop  [Loyally  on  the  Frontier,  20]  says  that  to  the  zeal  of  the  Knights 
of  the  Golden  Circle,  or  "Knaves  of  the  Godless  Communion,"  was  mainly 
attributable  "the  treasonable  complexion"  of  the  Arkansas  legislature  that  or- 
ganized in  November  of  1860. 

104  The  following  documents  include  the  act  of  the  Chickasaw  Legislature 
and  related  correspondence: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation,  That  the 
Governor  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation,  be  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to 
appoint  four  Commissioners,  one  from  each  county,  namely  :-Panola, 
Pickens,  Tishomingo,  and  Pontotoc  County,  on  the  part  of  the  Chick- 
asaw Nation,  to  meet  a  like  set  of  Commissioners  appointed  respective- 
ly by  the  Choctaw,  Creek,  Cherokee,  and  Seminole  Nations,  to  meet 
in  General  Convention  at  such  time  and  place  That  the  Chief  of  the 
Creek  Nation,  may  set,  for  the  purpose  of  entering  into  some  compact, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  Laws  and  Treaties  of  the  United  States,  for 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  69 

an  inter-tribal  conference  and  arranging  for  the  execu- 
tive appointment  of  a  Chickasaw  delegation  to  it.    The 

the  future  security  and  protection  of  the  rights  and  Citizens  of  said 
nations,  in  the  event  of  a  change  in  the  United  States,  and  to  renew 
the  harmony  and  good  feeling  already  established  between  said  Na- 
tions by  a  compact  concluded  &  entered  into  on  the  i4.th  of  Nov.  1859, 
at  Asbury  Mission  Creek  Nation. 

Be  it  further  enacted  That  said  Commissioners  shall  receive  for  their 
services  the  sum  of  One  hundred  dollars  each,  and  shall  report  the  pro- 
ceedings of  said  Convention  to  the  next  session  of  the  Chickasaw  Leg- 
islature for  its  approval  or  disapproval.  .  . 

Passed  the  House  Repts  as  amended  Jany  $th  1861. 

Passed  Senate  Jan.  5,  1861. 
Approved  Jan.  5,  1861. 
Indian  Office  General  Files  -  Cherokee  1859-1865,  £$15. 

Enclosed  please  find  an  Act  of  the  called  Session  of  the  Chickasaw 
Legislature,  the  object  of  which  you  will  readily  understand.  Your 
cooperation,  and  union  of  action  of  the  Cherokee  people  in  effecting  the 
object  therein  expressed  is  hereby  respectfully  solicited. 

It  will  be  left  to  the  Principal  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Nation  to  appoint 
the  time  and  place  of  meeting,  of  which  you  will  have  timely  notice.  - 
CYRUS  HARRIS,  governor  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation,  to  John  Ross,  prin- 
cipal chief  of  the  Cherokees,  dated  Tishomingo,  C.N.  January  5th,  1861 
[ibid,]. 

You  will  please  find  enclosed  a  communication  from  the  Govr  of 
the  Chickasaw  Nation  &  an  Act  of  the  Chickasaw  Legislature  calling 
upon  their  Brethren  the  Creeks  to  appoint  a  time  &  place  for  a  Gen- 
eral Convention  of  the  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  Cherokees,  and  Creeks. 
We  therefore  appoint  the  ijth  inst.  to  meet  at  the  General  Council 
Ground  of  the  Creek  Nation-  At  which  time  &  place  we  will  (be) 
happy  to  meet  our  Brethren  the  Cherokees.  -  JACOB  DERRYSAW,  acting 
chief  of  the  Creek  Nation,  to  John  Ross,  dated  Cowetah,  Creek  Nation, 
February  4,  1861  [ibid.']. 

I  was  much  surprised  to  receive  a  proposition  for  taking  action  so 
formal  on  a  matter  so  important,  without  having  any  previous  notice  or 
understanding  about  the  business,  which  might  have  afforded  oppor- 
tunity to  confer  with  our  respective  Councils  and  People. 

Although  I  regret  most  deeply,  the  excitement  which  has  arisen 
among  our  White  brethren :  yet  by  us  it  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  fam- 
ily misunderstanding  among  themselves.  And  it  behooves  us  to  be  care- 
ful, in  any  movement  of  ours,  to  refrain  from  adopting  any  measures 
liable  to  be  misconstrued  or  misrepresented:- and  in  which  (at  present 
at  least)  we  have  no  direct  and  proper  concern. 

I  cannot  but  confidently  believe,  however,  that  there  is  wisdom  and 
virtue  and  moderation  enough  among  the  people  of  the  United  States, 


yo       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

authorities  of  the  other  tribes  were  duly  notified105  and 
to  the  Creek  was  given  the  privilege  of  naming  time 
and  place. 
The   Inter-tribal   Council   assembled  at  the  Creek 

to  bring  about  a  peaceable  and  satisfactory  adjustment  of  their  differ- 
ences. And  I  do  not  think  we  have  the  right  to  anticipate  any  con- 
tingency adverse  to  the  stability  and  permanence  of  the  Federal  Union. 

Our  relations  to  the  United  States,  as  defined  by  our  treaties,  are 
clear  and  definite.  And  the  obligations  growing  out  of  them  easily 
ascertained.  And  it  will  ever  be  our  wisdom  and  our  interest  to  adhere 
strictly  to  those  obligations,  and  carefully  to  guard  against  being  drawn 
into  any  complications  which  may  prove  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of 
our  people,  or  imperil  the  security  we  now  enjoy  under  the  protection 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  guaranteed  by  our  Treaties. 
In  the  very  worst  contingency  that  can  be  thought  of,  the  great  National 
Responsibilities  of  the  United  States  must  and  will  be  provided  for. 
And  should  a  catastrophe  as  that  referred  to  in  (your)  communication, 
unhappily  occur,  then  will  be  the  time  for  us  to  take  proper  steps  for 
securing  the  rights  and  interests  of  our  people. 

Out  of  respect  to  the  Chiefs  of  neighboring  Nations,  and  from  the 
deep  interest  I  feel  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  our  red  brethren,  I  have 
deemed  it  proper  to  appoint  a  Delegation  to  attend  the  Council  ap- 
pointed by  the  Creek  Chiefs  at  your  request,  on  the  i7th  inst.  at  the 
Gen1  Council  Ground  of  the  Creek  Nation,  for  the  purpose  of  a  friendly 
interchange  of  the  views  &  sentiments  on  the  general  interests  of  our 
respective  Nations. 

In  the  language  of  our  Fathers,  I  am  your 

"Elder  Friend  and  Brother" 

JOHN  Ross,  Principal  Chief,  Cherokee  Nation. 
Extract  from  letter  to  Cyrus  Harris,  February  9,  1861   [ibid."]. 

Previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  Communication  enclosing  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Chickasaw  Authorities,  I  had  received  similar  papers 
from  the  "Governor  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation." 

And  I  herewith  enclose  for  the  information  of  yourself  &  people  a 
copy  of  my  reply.  I  will  appoint  a  Delegation  to  attend  your  Council 
for  the  purpose  therein  stated. -Ross  to  Derrysaw,  February  9,  1861 
[ibid.]. 

I  have  received  a  communication  from  the  Gov.  of  the  Chickasaw 
Nation,  with  a  copy  of  an  Act  of  their  Legislature.     And  I  presume  a 
similar  communication  has  been  received  by  you.     Deeming  it  important 
that  much  prudence  and  caution  should  be  exercised  by  us  in  regard  to 
the  object  of  the  Governor's  communication,  I  have  thought  it  proper 
to  address  him  a  letter,  giving  a  brief  expression  of  my  views  on  the 
subject,   a  copy  of  which  I  enclose  for  your  information.  -  Ross  to  the 
principal  chief  of  the  Choctaw  Nation,  February  n,  1861  [ibid.']. 
105  See  preceding  note. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  71 

Agency,106  February  17,  but  comparatively  few  dele- 
gates were  in  attendance.  William  P.  Ross,  a  gradu- 
ate 10T  of  Princeton  and  a  nephew  of  John  Ross,  the  prin- 
cipal chief  of  the  Cherokees,  went  as  the  head  of  the 
Cherokee  delegation.  It  was  he  who  reported  the  scan- 
ty attendance,108  saying  that  there  were  no  Chickasaws 
present,  no  Choctaws,  but  only  Creeks,  Seminoles,  and 
Cherokees.  Why  it  happened  so  can  not  now  be  exact- 
ly determined  but  to  it  may  undoubtedly  be  ascribed  the 
outcome;  for  the  council  did  nothing  that  was  not  per- 
fectly compatible  with  existing  friendly  relations  be- 
tween the  great  tribes  and  the  United  States  govern- 
ment. John  Ross,  in  instructing  his  delegates,  had 
strictly  enjoined  caution  and  discretion.109  William  P. 
Ross  and  his  associates  seem  to  have  managed  to  secure 

ice  The  Creek  Agency  was  probably  chosen  because  of  its  convenient  situa- 
tion. It  was  at  the  junction  of  the  North  Fork  and  the  Canadian  and,  conse- 
quently, in  close  proximity  to  three  of  the  reservations  and  not  far  distant 
from  the  other  two. 

107  See  Mrs.  W.  P.  Ross,  Life  and  Times  of  William  P.  Ross. 

108  American  Historical  Review,  vol.  xv,  282. 

109  .     .     .     On   your    deliberations    it  will    [be]    proper   for  you    to 
advise  discretion,    and  to   guard   against    any  premature  movement   on 
our  part,  which  might  produce  excitement  or  be  liable  to  misrepresenta- 
tion.    Our  duty  is  very  plain.     We  have  only  to  adhere  firmly  to  our 
respective  Treaties.     By  them  we  have  placed  ourselves  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  United  States,   and  of  no  other  sovereign  whatever.     We 
are  bound  to  hold  no  treaty  with  any  foreign  Power,  or  with  any  in- 
dividual State  or  combination  of  States  nor  with  Citizens  of  any  State. 
Nor  even  with  one  another  without  the  interposition  and  participation 
of  the  United  States.     .     . 

Should  any  action  of  the  Council  be  thought  desirable,  a  resolution 
might  be  adopted,  to  the  effect,  that  we  will  in  all  contingencies  rest 
our  interests  on  the  pledged  faith  of  the  United  States,  for  the  fulfilment 
of  their  obligations.  We  ought  to  entertain  no  apprehension  of  any 
change,  that  will  endanger  our  interests.  The  parties  holding  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  the  Federal  Government  will  always  be  bound  to  us. 
And  no  measures  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  adopt  can  add  anything 
to  the  security  we  now  possess.  Relying  on  your  intelligence  &  discre- 
tion I  will  add  no  more.  -  CHIEF  Ross's  instructions  to  the  Cherokee 
Delegation,  February  12,  1861  [Indian  Office  General  Files,  Cherokee 
1859-1865, 


72       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  observance  of  both.  Perchance  it  was  Chief 
Ross's110  known  aversion  to  an  interference  in  matters 
that  did  not  concern  the  Indians,  except  very  indirectly, 
and  the  consciousness  that  his  influence  in  the  council 
would  be  immense,  probably  all-powerful,  that  caused 
the  Chickasaws  to  draw  back  from  a  thing  they  had 
themselves  so  ill-advisedly  planned.  It  is,  however, 
just  possible  that,  between  the  time  of  issuing  the  call 
and  of  assembling  the  council,  they  crossed  on  their  own 
responsibility  the  boundary  of  indecision  and  resolved, 
as  most  certainly  had  the  Choctaws,  that  their  sym- 
pathies and  their  interests  were  with  the  South.  It 
might  well  be  supposed  that  in  this  perilous  hour  their 
thoughts  would  have  travelled  back  some  thirty  years 
and  they  would  have  remembered  what  havoc  the  same 
state-rights  doctrine,  now  presented  so  earnestly  for 
their  acceptance,  although  it  scarcely  fitted  their  case, 
had  then  wrought  in  their  concerns.  Strangely  enough 
none  of  the  tribes  seems  to  have  charged  the  gross  in- 
justice of  the  thirties  exclusively  to  the  account  of  the 
South.  On  the  contrary,  they  one  and  all  charged  it 
against  the  federal  government,  against  the  states  as  a 
whole,  and  so,  rightly  or  wrongly,  the  nation  had  to  pay 
for  the  inconsistency  of  Jackson's  procedure,  a  proced- 
ure that  could  so  illogically  recognize  the  supremacy 
of  federal  law  in  one  matter  and  the  supremacy  of  state 
law  in  another  matter  that  was  precisely  its  parallel. 

The  decision  of  the  Choctaws  had  found  expression  in 
a  series  of  resolutions  under  date  of  February  7.  They 
are  worthy  of  being  quoted  entire. 

no  The  Indian  Office  files  are  full  of  testimony  proving  John  Ross's  wis- 
dom, foresight,  sterling  worth  generally,  and  absolute  devotion  to  his  people. 
Indeed,  his  whole  biography  is  written  large  in  the  records.  His  character 
was  impeccable.  Judged  by  any  standard  whatsoever,  he  would  easily  rank 
as  one  of  the  greatest  of  Indian  half-breeds. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  73 

February  7,  1861. 

RESOLUTIONS  expressing  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  the  Gen- 
eral Council  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  in  reference  to  the  political 
disagreement  existing  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  States 
of  the  American  Union. 

Resolved  by  the  General  Council  of  the  Choctaw  Nation  as- 
sembled, That  we  view  with  deep  regret  and  great  solicitude  the 
present  unhappy  political  disagreement  between  the  Northern 
and  Southern  States  of  the  American  Union,  tending  to  a  perma- 
nent dissolution  of  the  Union  and  the  disturbance  of  the  various 
important  relations  existing  with  that  Government  by  treaty  stip- 
ulations and  international  laws,  and  portending  much  injury  to 
the  Choctaw  government  and  people. 

Resolved  further,  That  we  must  express  the  earnest  desire 
and  ready  hope  entertained  by  the  entire  Choctaw  people,  that 
any  and  all  political  disturbances  agitating  and  dividing  the  peo- 
ple of  the  various  States  may  be  honorably  and  speedily  adjusted ; 
and  the  example  and  blessing,  and  fostering  care  of  their  Gen- 
eral Government,  and  the  many  and  friendly  social  ties  existing 
with  their  people,  continue  for  the  enlightenment  in  moral  and 
good  government  and  prosperity  in  the  material  concerns  of  life 
to  our  whole  population. 

Resolved  further,  That  in  the  event  a  permanent  dissolution 
of  the  American  Union  takes  place,  our  many  relations  with  the 
General  Government  must  cease,  and  we  shall  be  left  to  follow 
the  natural  affections,  education,  institutions,  and  interests  of  our 
people,  which  indissolubly  bind  us  in  every  way  to  the  destiny  of 
our  neighbors  and  brethren  of  the  Southern  States  upon  whom 
we  are  confident  we  can  rely  for  the  preservation  of  our  rights  of 
life,  liberty,  and  property,  and  the  continuance  of  many  acts  of 
friendship,  general  counsel,  and  material  support. 

Resolved  further,  That  we  desire  to  assure  our  immediate 
neighbors,  the  people  of  Arkansas  and  Texas,  of  our  determina- 
tion to  observe  the  amicable  relations  in  every  way  so  long  exist- 
ing between  us,  and  the  firm  reliance  we  have,  amid  any  disturb- 
ance with  other  States,  the  rights  and  feelings  so  sacred  to  us 
will  remain  respected  by  them  and  be  protected  from  the  en- 
croachments of  others. 

Resolved  further,  That  his  excellency  the  principal  chief  be 


74       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

requested  to  inclose,  with  an  appropriate  communication  from 
himself,  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  governors  of  the  South- 
ern States,  with  the  request  that  they  be  laid  before  the  State 
convention  of  each  State,  as  many  as  have  assembled  at  the  date 
of  their  reception,  and  that  in  such  as  have  not  they  be  published 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  State. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
from  and  after  their  passage. 
Approved  February  7,  i86i.lxl 

These  resolutions  of  the  Choctaw  Council  are  in  the 
highest  degree  interesting  in  the  matter  both  of  their 
substance  and  of  their  time  of  issue.  The  information 
is  not  forthcoming  as  to  how  the  Choctaws  received  the 
invitation  of  the  Chickasaw  legislature  to  attend  an  in- 
ter-tribal council;  but,  later  on,  in  April,  1861,  the 
Choctaw  delegation  in  Washington,  made  up  of  P.  P. 
Pitchlynn,  Samuel  Garland,  Israel  Folsom,  and  Peter 
Folsom,  assured  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
that  the  Choctaw  Nation  intended  to  remain  neutral,112 

111  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  682. 

112  The  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  an  official  letter  from  Commis- 
sioner W.  P.  Dole  to  Secretary  Caleb  B.  Smith,  under  date  of  April  30,  1861, 
which  reads  as  follows: 

I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  herewith  a  copy  of  a  letter,  dated  lyth. 
Inst  from  Elias  Rector,  Esq.,  Supt.  Indian  Affairs  .  .  .  together 
with  copy  of  its  enclosure,  being  one  addressed  to  Col.  W.  H.  Emory 
by  M.  Leeper,  Agent  for  the  Indians  within  the  "Leased  District,"  hav- 
ing reference  to  the  removal  of  the  troops  from  Fort  Cobb. 

The  Government  being  bound  by  treaty  obligations  to  protect  the 
Indians  from  the  incursions  of  all  enemies,  I  would  respectfully  ask  to 
be  informed,  if  it  is  not  its  intention  to  keep  in  the  country  a  sufficient 
force  for  the  purpose. 

The  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  delegation  -  composed  of  the  prin- 
cipal men  of  those  Nations  -  while  recently  in  this  City  expressed  great 
apprehensions  of  attack  upon  their  people,  by  Citizens  of  Texas  and 
Arkansas;  and  these  delegations  having  assured  me  of  their  determin- 
ation to  maintain  a  neutral  position  in  the  anticipated  difficulties  through- 
out our  Country,  I  would  recommend  that  a  depot  for  arms  be  estab- 
lished within  the  Southern  Superintendency  in  order  that  the  Indians 
there  may  be  placed  in  the  possession  of  the  means  to  defend  themselves 
against  any  attack.  .  .-Indian  Office  Report  Book,  no.  12,  p.  152. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  75 

which  assurance  was  interpreted  to  mean  simply  that 
the  Choctaws  would  be  inactive  spectators  of  events,  ex- 
pressing no  opinion,  in  word  or  deed,  one  way  or  the 
other.  The  Chickasaw  delegation  gave  the  same  assur- 
ance and  at  about  the  same  time  and  place.  Now  what 
is  to  be  concluded?  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that  the  Act  of 
January  5,  1861  in  no  wise  reflected  the  sentiments  of  a 
tribe  as  a  whole  and  similarly  the  Resolutions  of  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1 86 1,  or  that  the  tribal  delegations  were,  in 
April,  utterly  ignorant  of  the  real  attitude  of  their  re- 
spective constituents?  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the 
following  most  interesting  and  instructive  letter,  writ- 
ten by  S.  Orlando  Lee  to  Commissioner  Dole  from 
Huntingdon,  Long  Island,  March  15,  i86a:113 

Thinking  you  and  the  government  would  like  to  hear  some- 
thing about  the  state  of  affairs  among  the  Choctaws  last  summer 
and  the  influences  which  induced  them  to  take  their  present  po- 
sition I  will  write  you  what  I  know.  I  was  a  missionary  teacher 
at  Spencer  Academy  for  two  years  and  refer  you  to  Hon.  Walter 
Lowrie  Gen.  Sec.  of  the  Pres.  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  for  in- 
formation as  to  my  character  &c.  I  left  Spencer  June  I3th  & 
the  nation  June  24th  but  have  heard  directly  from  there  twice 
since,  the  last  time  as  late  as  Sept  6th.  So  that  I  can  speak  of 
occurrences  as  late  as  that. 

After  South  Carolina  passed  her  secession  ordinance  in  Dec. 
1860  there  was  a  public  attempt  to  excite  the  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws  as  a  beginning  hoping  to  bring  in  the  other  tribes  af- 
terwards. Many  of  the  larger  slaveholders  (who  are  nearly  all 
half  breeds)  had  been  gained  before  and  Capt.  R.  M.  Jones  was 
the  leader  of  the  secessionists.  The  country  was  full  of  lies  about 
the  intentions  of  the  new  administration.  The  border  papers  in 
Arkansas  &  Texas  republished  from  the  New  York  &  St.  Louis 
papers  a  part  of  a  sentence  from  Hon.  W.  H.  Seward's  speech  at 
Chicago  during  the  election  campaign  of  1860  to  this  effect  "And 
Indian  Territory  south  of  Kansas  must  be  vacated  by  the  Indian" 
(These  words  do  occur  in  the  report  of  Mr.  Seward's  Chicago 
113  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  1,632. 


76       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

speech  as  published  in  New  York  Evening  Post  Weekly  for  I 
read  it  myself).  This  produced  intense  excitement  of  course 
and  to  add  to  the  effect  the  Secessionist  Journals  charged  that 
another  prominent  republican  had  proposed  to  drive  the  indians 
out  of  Indian  Ter.  in  a  speech  in  congress.  "This"  they  were 
told  "is  the  policy  of  the  new  administration.  The  abolitionists 
want  your  lands  -  we  will  protect  you.  Your  only  safety  is  to 
join  the  South."  Again  they  were  told  "that  the  South  must 
succeed  in  gaining  their  independence  and  the  money  of  the  in- 
dians being  invested  in  the  stocks  of  Southern  states  the  stocks 
would  be  cancelled  &  the  indians  would  lose  their  money  unless 
they  joined  the  south,  if  they  did  that  the  stocks  would  be  reis- 
sued to  the  Confederate  States  for  them."  Their  special  commis- 
sioners Peter  Folsom  &c,  who  came  to  Washington  to  get  the 
half  million  of  dollars  for  claims,  reported  that  they  got  along 
very  well  until  they  were  asked  if  they  had  slaves  after  that  they 
said  they  could  do  nothing.  Sampson  Folsom  said  however  that 
he  thought  they  would  have  succeeded  had  it  not  been  for  the  at- 
tack on  Sumpter  -  He  said  President  Lincoln  then  told  them 
"He  would  not  give  them  a  dollar  until  the  close  of  the  war" 
An  interesting  fact  in  relation  to  these  commissioners  is  that  they 
came  to  Washington  by  way  of  Montgomery  &  were  when  they 
reached  Washington  probably  all,  except  Judge  Garland,  seces- 
sionists. Thus  all  influences  were  in  favor  of  the  rebels  -  Where 
could  the  indians  go  for  light  —  The  former  Indian  agent  Cooper 
was  a  Col.  in  the  rebel  service.  The  oldest  missionary  who  has 
undoubtedly  more  influence  with  the  Choctaws  than  any  other 
white  man  is  an  ardent  secessionist  believing  firmly  both  in  the 
right  &  in  the  final  success  of  the  rebel  cause  —  He  (Dr.  Kings- 
bury)  prays  as  earnestly  &  fervently  for  the  success  of  the  rebels 
as  any  one  among  us  does  for  the  success  of  the  Union  cause. 
The  son  of  another,  Mr.  Hodgkin,  is  a  captain  in  the  rebel  ser- 
vice -  another  Mr.  Stark  actively  assisted  in  organizing  a  com- 
pany acted  as  sec.  of  secessionist  meetings  &c.  Even  Mr.  Reid 
superintendant  of  Spencer  was  confident  the  rebels  could  never 
be  subdued  and  thought  when  the  treaty  should  be  made  they 
ought  in  justice  to  have  Ind.  Territory.  Again  when  Fort  Smith 
was  evacuated  the  rebel  forces  were  on  the  way  up  the  Ark. 
river  to  attack  it  &  the  garrison  evacuated  it  in  the  night  which 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  77 

looked  to  the  Indians  (if  not  to  the  white  men)  as  if  the  north- 
erners were  afraid.  The  same  was  true  of  Fort  Washitaw  where 
our  forces  left  in  the  night  and  were  actually  pursued  for  sev- 
eral days  by  the  Texans.  Thus  matters  stood  when  Col.  Pitch- 
lynn  the  resident  Com.  of  the  Choctaws  at  Washington  returned 
home.  He  gave  all  his  influence  to  have  the  Choctaws  take  a 
neutral  position.  The  chief  had  called  the  council  to  meet  June 
1st.  &  Col.  P.  so  far  succeeded  as  to  induce  him  to  prepare  a 
message  recommending  neutrality.  Col.  P.  was  promptly  re- 
ported as  an  abolitionist  and  visited  &  threatened  by  a  Texas 
Vigilance  committee. 

The  Council  met  at  Doaksville  seven  miles  from  Red  River 
&  of  course  from  Texas.  It  was  largely  attended  by  white  men 
from  Texas  our  Choctaw  neighbors  who  attended  said  the  place 
was  full  of  white  men. 

The  Council  did  not  organize  until  June  4th  or  5th  (I  forget 
which)  In  the  meanwhile  the  white  men  &  half  bloods  had  a  se- 
cession meeting  when  it  leaked  out  through  Col.  Cooper  that  the 
Chief  Hudson  had  prepared  a  message  recommending  neutrality 
at  which  Robert  M.  Jones  was  so  indignant  that  he  made  a  fu- 
rious speech  in  which  he  declared  that  "any  one  who  opposed  se- 
cession ought  to  be  hung"  "and  any  suspicious  persons  ought  to 
be  hung."  Hudson  was  frightened  and  when  the  Council  was 
organized  sent  in  a  message  recommending  that  commissioners 
be  appointed  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  Confederates  and  that 
in  the  meantime  a  regiment  be  organized  under  Col.  Cooper  for 
the  Con  fed.  army. 

This  was  finally  done  but  not  for  a  week  for  the  Choctaws 
were  reluctant.  They  feared  that  their  action  would  result  in 
the  destruction  of  the  nation.  Said  Joseph  P.  Folsom,  a  member 
of  the  council  &  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College  New  Hamp- 
shire, "We  are  choosing  in  what  way  we  shall  die"  Judge  Wade 
said  to  me,  "We  expect  that  the  Choctaws  will  be  buried.  That 
is  what  we  think  will  be  the  end  of  this."  Judge  W.  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Senate  (for  the  Choctaw  Council  is  composed  of  a 
Senate  &  lower  house  chosen  by  the  people  in  districts  &  the  con- 
stitution is  modeled  very  much  after  those  of  the  states.)  &  he 
has  been  a  chief.  Others  said  to  me  "If  the  north  was  here  so 
we  could  be  protected  we  would  stand  up  for  the  north  but  now 


78       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

if  we  do  not  go  in  for  the  south  the  Texans  will  come  over  here 
and  kill  us."  Mr.  Reid  told  me  a  day  or  two  before  we  left  that 
he  had  become  convinced  during  a  trip  for  two  or  three  days 
through  the  country  that  the  full  bloods  were  strongly  for  the 
north.  I  am  sure  it  was  so  then  &  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  mis- 
sionaries that  if  we  had  all  taken  the  position,  that  we  would  not 
leave,  some  of  us  had  been  warned  to  do  so  by  Texan  vigilance 
committees,  we  could  have  raised  a  thousand  men  who  would 
have  armed  in  our  defence  —  Our  older  brethren  told  us  that  this 
would  hasten  the  destruction  of  the  indians  as  they  would  be 
crushed  before  any  help  could  come.  -  We  thought  this  would 
probably  be  the  case  and  the  missionaries  who  were  most  strong- 
ly union  in  sentiment  left. 

One  of  the  number  Rev.  John  Edwards  had  been  hiding  for 
his  life  from  Texan  &  half  blood  ruffians  for  two  weeks  &  we 
at  Spencer  had  had  the  honor  to  be  visited  by  a  Texas  committee 
searching  for  arms. 

I  continue  my  narrative  from  a  letter  from  one  of  our  teach- 
ers who  was  detained  when  we  left  by  the  illness  of  his  wife  & 
who  left  Spencer  Sept  5th  &  the  Nation  Sept.  gth.  He  says  Col. 
Coopers  regiment  was  filled  up  with  Texans  "The  half  breeds  af- 
ter involving  the  full  bloods  in  the  war  have  rather  drawn  back 
themselves  and  but  few  of  them  have  enlisted  &  gone  to  the  war." 
This  indicates  that  the  full  bloods  have  at  last  yielded  to  the 
pressure  and  joined  the  rebels.  The  missionaries  who  remained 
would  generally  advise  them  to  do  this. 

The  Choctaw  commissioners  met  Albert  Pike  rebel  commis- 
sioner &  made  a  treaty  with  him,  with  reference  to  this  he  says 
"The  Choctaws  rec'd  quite  a  bundle  of  promises  from  the  rebel 
government.  Their  treaty  gives  their  representative  a  seat  in  the 
rebel  congress,  acknowledges  the  right  of  the  Choctaws  to  give 
testimony  in  all  courts  in  the  C.  S.,  exempts  them  from  the  ex- 
pences  of  the  war,  their  soldiers  are  to  be  paid  20$  a  month  by 
the  C.  S.  during  the  war,  the  C.  S.  assume  the  debts  due  the 
Choctaws  by  the  U.  S.,  they  have  the  privilege  of  coming  in  as 
a  state  into  the  Confederacy  with  equal  rights  if  they  wish  it,  or 
remain  as  they  are,  the  C.  S.  to  sustain  their  schools  after  the 
war,  they  guarantee  them  against  all  intrusion  on  their  lands  by 
white  men,  allow  them  to  garrison  the  forts  in  their  territory 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  79 

with  their  own  troops  if  they  wish  it  said  troops  to  be  paid  by 
the  C.  S."  -  Here  is  a  list  of  promises  and  when  I  think  of  these, 
of  the  belief  of  their  oldest  missionaries  in  the  final  success  of 
the  rebels,  of  the  fact  that  all  the  old  Officers  of  the  U.  S.  gov- 
ernment were  in  the  service  of  the  rebels,  of  the  occupation  of 
the  forts  there  by  rebels,  of  the  activity  of  a  knot  of  bitter  dis- 
unionists  led  by  Capt.  Jones,  who  has  long  been  a  very  influential 
man,  of  the  Texas  mob  law  which  considered  it  a  crime  for  a 
young  man  to  refuse  to  volunteer,  of  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
way  for  them  to  hear  the  truth  as  to  the  designs  of  the  U.  S. 
government  concerning  them,  except  through  Col.  Pitchlyn  who 
was  soon  silenced  &  of  the  falsehoods  told  them  as  to  the  designs 
of  the  Government,  I  do  not  wonder  that  they  have  joined  the 
rebels. 

I  saw  strong  men  completely  unmanned  even  to  floods  of  tears 
by  the  leaving  of  Dr.  Hobbs  and  the  thoughts  of  what  was  before 
them.  I  heard  men  say  they  did  not  want  to  fight  but  expected 
to  be  forced  to  do  it. 

I  trust  the  government  will  consider  the  circumstances  of  the 
case  &  deal  gently,  considerately  with  the  Indians.  I  do  not  like 
to  write  such  things  of  my  brother  missionaries  but  they  are  I 
believe  facts  &  though  I  love  some  of  them  very  much  I  still  must 
say  that,  except  Rev.  Mr.  Byington  who  was  doubtful  &  Rev. 
Mr.  Balantine  a  missionary  to  the  Chickasaws  who  was  union, 
all  the  ordained  missionaries  belonging  to  the  Choctaw  &  Chicka- 
saw  Mission  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  who  remain  there  were 
victims  of  the  madness  which  swept  over  the  South,  were  seces- 
sionists —  One  or  two  of  the  three  Laymen  who  remained  were 
union  men  —  Cyrus  Kingsbury  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  K.  being 
one.  .  . 

The  failure  of  the  United  States  government  to  give 
the  Indians,  in  season,  the  necessary  assurance  that  they 
would  be  protected,  no  matter  what  might  happen,  can 
not  be  too  severely  criticized.  It  indicated  a  very  short- 
sighted policy  and  was  due  either  to  a  tendency  to  ig- 
nore the  Indians  as  people  of  no  importance  or  to  a  lack 
of  harmony  and  cooperation  among  the  departments  at 
Washington.  Such  an  assurance  of  continued  protec- 


80       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

tion  was  not  even  framed  until  the  second  week  in  May 
and  then  the  Indian  country  was  already  threatened  by 
the  secessionists.  Moreover,  it  was  framed  and  intend- 
ed to  be  given  by  one  department,  the  Interior,  and  its 
fulfilment  left  to  another,  the  War.  It  went  out  from 
the  Indian  Office  in  the  form  of  a  circular  letter,11*  ad- 
dressed by  Commissioner  William  P.  Dole  to  the  chief 
executive115  in  each  of  the  five  great  tribes.  It  assured 
the  Indians  that  President  Lincoln  had  no  intention  of 
interfering  with  their  domestic  institutions  or  of  allow- 
ing government  agents  or  employees  to  interfere  and 
that  the  War  Department  had  been  appealed  to  to  fur- 
nish all  needed  defense  according  to  treaty  guaranties. 
The  new  southern  superintendent,  William  G.  Coffin 
of  Indiana,  was  made  the  bearer  of  the  missive;  but, 
unfortunately,  quite  a  little  time  elapsed116  before  the 
military  situation117  in  the  West  would  allow  him  to  as- 

114  The  letter  can  be  found  in  manuscript  form  in  Indian  Office,  Letter 
Book,  no.  65,   pp.   447-449,   and   in  printed  form   in  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  34. 

115  John  Ross,  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation;  Cyrus  Harris,  gov- 
ernor of  the  Chickasaw  Nation ;   M.  Kennard,  principal  chief  of  the  Lower 
Creeks;   Echo  Hadjo    [Echo  Harjo],   principal  chief  of  the    Upper   Creeks; 
George  Hudson,   principal   chief  of   the  Choctaw   Nation ;   and  the  unnamed 
principal  chief  of  the  Seminoles  west  of  Arkansas. 

116  It  would  seem  that  the  letter  was  not  given  to  Coffin  immediately  but 
was  held  back  on  account  of  the  insecurity  of  the  mails  [Dole  to  Creek   and 
Seminole  chiefs,   November  16,   1861,   Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,   no.  67,   pp. 
78-79]. 

117  The  delay  was  not  entirely  due  to  the  military  situation.     Coffin  went 
from  Washington  to  his  home  in  Indiana.     He  was  there  on  the  twentieth, 
at  Annapolis,  Parke  County,  when  Dole  wrote  urging  him  to  hasten  on  his  way, 

I  herewith  enclose  a  slip  taken  from  the  National  Intelligencer  of 
this  date,  being  an  extract  from  the  Austin  [Texas]  State  Gazette  of  the 
4th  Instant,  by  which  you  will  perceive  that  efforts  are  being  made  to 
tamper  with  the  Indians  within  your  Superintendency. 

By  this  you  will  perceive  the  urgent  necessity,  that  you  should  pro- 
ceed at  the  earliest  moment  practicable  to  the  vicinity  of  the  duties  in 
your  charge,  that  from  your  personal  knowledge  of  the  views  of  the 
Government  in  relation  to  these  Indians  as  well  as  by  the  instructions 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  81 

sume  his  full  duties  or  to  reach  his  official  headquar- 
ters,118 and,  in  the  interval,  he  was  detailed  for  other 

and  communications  in  your  possession,  you  may  be  able  to  thwart  the 
endeavors  of  any  and  all  who  have  or  shall  attempt  to  tamper  with 
these  tribes  and  array  them  in  hostility  to  the  Government. 

I  deem  it  of  the  utmost  importance  that  no  time  be  lost  in  this  matter, 
as  delay  may  be  disastrous  to  the  public  service.  -  Indian  Office,  Letter 
Book,  no.  65,  p.  473. 

By  the  nineteenth  of  June,  Coffin  had  managed  to  reach  Crawford  Sem- 
inary, from  which  place  he  reported  to  Dole, 

We  have  at  length  reached  the  Indian  Territory  propper.  .  .  I 
find  Mr.  Elder  the  Agent  absent.  I  learned  on  my  way  down  here  that 
he  had  gone  to  Fort  Scott  with  the  view  of  locating  the  Agency  there 
for  the  present  which  I  supposed  when  I  wrote  you  from  the  Catholic 
Mission  might  be  propper  from  its  close  proximity  to  Missouri  but  as 
Mr.  Phelps  district  is  opposit  here  and  he  a  good  Union  man  and  has 
been  Stumping  the  district  and  I  learn  that  the  Union  cause  is  growing 
fast  in  that  part  of  the  State  I  think  there  is  now  at  least  no  Sort  of  ex- 
cuse for  removing,  the  buildings  here  are  ample  for  a  large  family, 
waiter  good.  .  .  -  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862, 

CI229. 

The  sequel  showed  that  Agent  Elder  was  right  and  Superintendent  Coffin 
wrong  about  the  security  of  the  region.  Coffin  never  reached  Fort  Smith  at  all 
and  was  soon  compelled  to  vacate  the  Indian  Territory.  Indian  Office,  Letter 
Book,  no.  66,  which  covers  the  period  from  June,  1861  to  October,  1861,  con- 
tains scarcely  a  letter  to  prove  that  the  Indian  Office  was  in  communication 
with  Indian  Territory.  Official  connection  with  the  country  had  been  com- 
pletely cut  off.  Military  abandonment  and  dilatory  officials  had  done  their 
work. 

118  Official  instructions  were  issued  to  Coffin,  then  in  Washington,  on  the 
ninth,  and  gave  him  permission  to  change  his  headquarters  at  discretion.  The 
following  is  an  excerpt  of  the  instructions: 

You  having  been  appointed  by  the  President  to  be  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs  for  the  Southern  Superintendency  in  place  of  Elias  Rector, 
Esq.  .  .  You  will  repair  to  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  as  early  as  prac- 
ticable, for  the  purpose  of  relieving  Elias  Rector,  Esq. 

In  your  progress  from  Indiana  to  Fort  Smith,  should  you  deem  it  ex- 
pedient and  advisable  to  pass  down  the  Kansas  line  and  among  the  In- 
dians in  that  section,  you  will  make  it  your  business  to  inquire  as  to  their 
sentiments  and  disposition  with  reference  to  the  present  disturbances  in 
the  neighboring  countries,  so  far  as  time  and  opportunity  will  enable 
you  to  do  so.  On  reaching  Fort  Smith  you  will  also  inform  yourself  as 
to  the  condition  of  Affairs  there  and  surrounding  country,  and  as  to  the 
prospect  of  the  business  of  the  Superintendency  being  carried  on  without 
molestation  or  other  inconvenience,  and  should  you  find  it  necessary 


82       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

work.  The  Indians,  meanwhile,  were  left  to  their  own 
devices  and  were  obliged  to  look  out  for  their  own  de- 
fense as  best  they  could. 

To  all  appearances  neither  the  legislative  action  of 
the  Chickasaws  and  of  the  Choctaws  nor  the  work  of  the 
inter-tribal  council  was,  at  the  time  of  occurrence,  re- 
ported officially  to  the  United  States  government  or,  if 
reported  officially,  then  not  pointedly  so  as  to  reveal  its 
real  bearings  upon  the  case  in  hand.  All  the  agents 
within  Indian  Territory  were  as  usual  southern  men;11 
but  may  not  have  been  directly  responsible  or  even  cog- 
nizant of  this  particular  action  of  their  charges.  The 
records  show  that  practically  all  of  them,  Cooper,  Gar- 
rett,  Cowart,  Leeper,  and  Dorn,  were  absent120  from 
their  posts,  with  or  without  leave,  the  first  part  of  the 

from  the  circumstances  that  may  surround  you  to  remove  the  office  of 
Superintendent  from  Fort  Smith  you  are  authorized  to  do  so,  selecting 
some  eligible  point  in  the  proximate  Indian  Territory,  or  if  required 
some  point  northwardly  among  the  Indians  in  Kansas  as  your  best  dis- 
cretion may  dictate.  I  trust  however  that  this  discretionary  authority 
may  prove  unnecessary  and  that  in  the  legitimate  discharge  of  your  du- 
ties, you  may  suffer  no  interruption  from  any  cause  or  source  whatever. 
In  a  report  from  this  Office  of  the  3oth  Ultimo,  with  reference  to  antici- 
pated Indian  troubles  in  your  Superintendency  consequent  upon  the  re- 
moval of  the  troops  from  Fort  Cobb,  the  attention  of  the  Hon.  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  was  called  to  the  subject,  and  the  enquiry  as  to  the  policy 
of  the  Government  to  keep  in  the  country  a  sufficient  force  for  the  pur- 
pose of  proper  protection;  and  further  calling  his  attention  to  the  ex- 
pression of  friendship  and  loyalty  made  by  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw 
delegates  lately  in  this  City,  recommended  that  a  depot  for  arms  be 
established  within  the  Southern  Superintendency,  in  order  that  the  In- 
dians there  may  be  placed  in  possession  of  the  means  to  defend  them- 
selves against  any  attack.  As  yet  no  response  to  this  report  has  been  re- 
ceived. .  .-Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  65,  pp.  442-443. 

119  Douglas  H.  Cooper,  agent  for  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  was  from 
Mississippi;  William  H.  Garrett,  agent  for  the  Creeks,  was  from  Alabama; 
Robert  J.    Cowart,    agent   for   the    Cherokees,   was  from    Georgia;    Matthew 
Leeper,  agent  for  the  Indians  of  the  Leased  District,  was  from  Texas;   and 
Andrew  J.  Dorn,  agent  at  the  Neosho  River  Agency,  was  from  Arkansas. 

120  Telegram,  Greenwood  to  Rector,  January  19,  1861  [Indian  Office,  Let- 
ter Book,  no.  65,  p.  104]. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  83 

new  year  and  that  every  one  of  them  became  or  was  al- 
ready an  active  secessionist.121 

It  has  been  authenticated  and  is  well  understood  to- 
day that,  as  the  Southern  States,  one  by  one,  declared 
themselves  out  of  the  Union  or  were  getting  themselves 
into  line  for  so  doing,  they  prepared  to  further  the  cause 
of  secession  among  their  neighbors  and,  for  the  pur- 
pose, sent  agents  or  commissioners  to  them,  who  organ- 
ized the  movement  very  much  as  the  Committees  of 
Correspondence  did  a  similar  movement  prior  to  the 
American  Revolution.  In  short,  in  the  spring  of  1861, 
the  seceding  states  entered  upon  active  proselytism  and 
at  least  two  of  them  extended  their  labors  to  and  among 
the  Indians.  Those  two  were  Texas  and  Arkansas. 
Missouri  also  worked  with  the  same  end  in  view,  so 
did  Colorado,  but  apparently  not  so  much  with  the 
great  tribes  of  Oklahoma  as  with  the  politically  less 
important  of  Kansas.  Colorado,  it  is  true,  did  operate 
to  some  extent  upon  the  Cherokees  of  the  Outlet  and 
upon  the  Wichitas,  but  mostly  upon  the  Indians  of  the 
western  plains.  No  one  can  deny  that,  in  the  interests 
of  the  Confederate  cause,  the  project  of  sending  emis- 
saries even  to  the  Indians  was  a  wise  measure  or  refuse 
to  admit  that  the  contrasting  inactivity  and  positive  in- 
difference of  the  North  was  foolhardy  in  the  extreme. 
It  indicated  a  self-complacency  for  which  there  was  no 
justification.  More  than  that  can  with  truth  be  said; 
for,  from  the  standpoint  of  political  wisdom  and  fore- 
sight, the  inactivity  where  the  Indians  were  concerned 
was  conduct  most  reprehensible. 

121  For  information  showing  what  Indian  agents  became  adherents  of  the 
Confederate  cause,  see,  among  other  things,  an  extract  from  a  report  of  Albert 
Pike  to  be  found  in  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  130,  pp.  237-238;  and  a  let- 
ter from  R.  W.  Johnson  to  L.  P.  Walker,  published  in  Official  Records,  first 
ser.,  vol.  iii,  598. 


84       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

While  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws,  unsolicited,122  were 
expressing  themselves,  the  secessionist  sentiment  was  de- 

122  The  evidence  on  this  point  is  not  very  convincing,  either  one  way  or  the 
other.  A  number  of  documents  might  be  cited  bearing  some  brief,  vague,  or 
indefinite  reference  to  the  steps  the  Indians  took  from  the  beginning.  The 
closing  paragraph  of  the  following  report  from  E.  H.  Carruth,  under  date  of 
July  11,  1 86 1,  is  a  typical  case: 

SIR:  I  know  not  that  any  person  has  given  information  to  any  of  the 
United  States  officers  in  regard  to  the  position  of  the  Indian  Tribes  con- 
nected with  the  Southern  Superintendency. 

I  am  just  arrived  from  the  Seminole  Country  where  for  a  year  I 
have  been  employed  as  [illegible]  to  induce  the  Seminoles  to  establish 
schools.  In  Sept.  last  the  chiefs  applied  to  the  Department  to  set  aside 
$5000  for  this  purpose,  but  never  heard  from  their  application,  and  their 
Ag't  soon  became  too  deeply  interested  in  the  politics  of  the  Country  to 
pay  much  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  tribe. 

From  the  time  the  secession  movement  began  to  ripen  into  treason, 
the  Chief  of  the  Seminoles  has  constantly  sought  information  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  whenever  I  rec'd  a  mail  he  would  bring  an  Interpreter  &  re- 
main with  me  until  all  had  been  read  and  explained. 

After  the  Forts  west  were  taken  possession  of  by  the  Texans,  the 
tribes  living  under  the  protection  of  Government  around  Fort  Cobb 
came  into  the  Seminole  Country,  seeking  the  counsel  of  the  Seminoles  as 
to  what  they  should  do,  hostility  to  the  Texans,  being  with  them  strength- 
ened by  the  recollection  of  recent  wrongs.  The  Seminoles  gave  them 
permission  to  reside  on  their  lands,  and  advised  them  to  interfere  with 
neither  party,  should  both  be  represented  in  the  country. 

The  Texan  officers  sent  several  letters  among  them  &  left  Commis- 
sioners at  Cobb  to  treat  with  them  offering  to  them  the  same  protection 
before  enjoyed  while  the  Government  of  the  U.  S.  was  represented 
among  them.  A  letter  was  also  sent  to  the  Seminoles  signed  by  Geo. 
W.  Welch,  "Capt  -  Commanding  the  Texan  troops  in  the  service  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy"  which  asserted  that  the  Northern  people  were 
determined  to  take  away  their  lands  Gf  negroes,  that  the  old  Gov't  would 
never  be  able  to  fulfill  her  treaty  stipulations  and  wound  up  by  asking 
them  to  place  their  interests  under  the  protection  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. 

Very  soon  aferwards  Capt-  Albert  G.  Pike  "Commissioner  for  the 
Confederate  States  of  America"  wrote  to  the  Seminole  Chief  from  the 
Creek  Agency,  asking  that  he  should  meet  him  at  that  place  with  six  of 
his  best  men  fully  authorized  to  treat  with  him.  He  also  asked  for  a 
body  of  Seminole  warriors,  &  promised  as  "good  perhaps  better  treaty" 
than  their  old  one.  His  letter  was  backed  up  by  one  from  Washburn 
(formerly  Seminole  Ag't)  who  gave  a  glowing  description  of  treason, 
representing  to  the  Indians  that  the  U.S.  could  never  pay  one  dollar  of 
the  moneys  due  them,  that  European  Nations  were  committed  to  the 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  85 

veloping  rapidly  in  Texas.    By  the  middle  of  February, 
conditions  were  such  that  steps  might  be  taken  to  order 

cause  of  the  Rebels,  and  entreated,  prayed,  almost  commanded  them  to 
take  the  step  so  essential  to  their  political  salvation.  This  Washburn 
had  once  been  engaged  in  a  money  transaction  with  two  of  the  Chiefs 
which  swindled  the  nation  out  of  many  thousands  of  dollars,  and  while 
they  came  near  losing  their  heads  in  the  operation,  he  escaped,  &  still 
enjoys  great  personal  popularity  with  the  tribe.  No  man  knows  better 
how  to  approach  Indians.  He  was  born  among  them  of  missionary 
parents,  &  like  all  southern  men,  who  regret  their  northern  parentage, 
he  is  the  most  rabid  of  violent  traitors.  The  day  after  these  letters  were 
rec'd  the  Chief  (John  Jumper)  spent  at  my  house.  He  felt  true  to  the 
treaties,  &  said  that  all  his  people  were  with  the  Government,  but,  the 
Forts  west  were  in  possession  of  its  enemies,  their  Agent  would  give 
them  no  information  on  the  subject,  &  he  feared  that  his  country  would 
be  overrun,  if  he  did  not  yield. 

I  told  him  plainly  that  Government  was  shamefully  misrepresented, 
that  the  treaties  bound  him  to  all  the  states  alike,  that  the  U.S.  could  not 
fall  with  all  the  Army  &  Navy  at  her  disposal,  &  that  should  the  South 
ever  succeed  in  gaining  her  own  independence  the  free  States  would 
fight  till  not  a  man,  woman  or  child  was  left,  before  yielding  one  inch 
of  Territory  to  the  rebels.  The  war  being  entered  into  not  so  much 
either  for  or  against  slavery  in  the  states,  as  to  protect  the  Constitutional 
rights  of  Government  in  the  Territories.  The  Chief  told  me  that  all  the 
full  Indians  everywhere  were  with  the  Gov't,  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
fight,  nor  did  his  people,  they  had  hoped  to  be  left  to  themselves  untill 
the  whites  settled  their  quarrels,  his  people  had  enough  of  war  in  Flor- 
ida, &  were  now  anxious  for  peace.  He  would  however  go  to  the  Creek 
Agency  Sc  tell  Capt.  Pike  &  Ben  McCulloch  their  determination.  I  be- 
lieve the  object  of  Pike  in  drawing  the  Seminoles  to  the  Creek  country 
was  that  he  could  thus  bring  Creek  influence  to  bear  upon  them.  When 
Pike's  letter  came,  the  Bearer  sent  word  to  the  Chief  to  meet  him  ten 
miles  below,  where  they  were  read,  but  this  caution  did  not  keep  them 
out  of  sight,  as  the  Chief  immediately  brought  them  to  me,  to  whom  as 
clerk  they  should  have  come  at  first,  but  a  "white  man"  was  declared  to 
be  the  adviser  of  the  Seminoles,  for  whom  a  black  jack  limb  would  soon 
suffice.  I  knew  it  dangerous  to  await  the  arrival  of  my  ranger  friends, 
&  with  my  wife  I  left  on  horseback,  traveling  in  a  Kickapoo  trail,  com- 
ing in  above  the  Creek  country,  as  they  had  seceded  - 1  was  questioned 
a  good  deal  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  but  not  interfered  with  as  I  was 
personally  acquainted  with  their  leading  half  breeds,  and  my  wife  being 
fortunate  enough  to  have  a  Virginia  birth  and  a  brother  in  Missouri. 

When  within  a  half  hour's  travel  of  the  Neosho  River,  my  shot  gun 
was  taken  by  a  company  of  men,  organized  that  day -the  2d  after  Sey- 
mour was  killed  -  they  said  "to  clean  out  Kansas  Jay  hawkers." 

The  influence  of  Capt  Pike  the  Rebel  Commissioner  is  second  to  no 


86       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  evacuation  of  the  state  by  Federal  troops.    This  was 
finally  done  under  authority  of  the  Committee  of  Pub- 
man's  among  the  Southern  Indians  &  I  fear  that  he  may  succeed  in  his 
intrigues  with  the   other  tribes,   the   Creeks,   Chickasaws,  &   Choctaws 
having  already  gone.    The  Cherokees  refuse  to  go  as  a  Nation,  &  no  one 
is  a  firmer  friend  to  the  Union  than  John  Ross,  their  Chief,  but  traitors 
are  scheming,  and  the  half  breeds  in  favor  of  the  South,  want  an  army 
to  come  in,  in  which  event  they  promise  to  be  "forced  in"  to  the  Arms 
of  Jeff.  Davis,  &  the  select  crowd  of  traitors  at  Montgomery. 

There  are  many  true  &  loyal  men  even  among  the  half  breeds,  some 
of  the  Judges  of  their  courts  I  know  to  be  so,  while  all  the  full  blood 
element  is  with  the  Gov't. 

The  half  breeds  belong  to  the  K.  G.  C.  a  society  whose  sole  object  is 
to  increase  &  defend  slavery  and  the  full  bloods  have  -  not  to  be  out- 
done -  got  up  a  secret  organization  called  the  "pins"  which  meets  among 
mountains,  connecting  business  with  Ball-playing,  and  this  is  under- 
stood to  be  in  favor  of  Gov't,  at  least  when  a  half  breed  at  Webers 
falls  raised  a  secession  flag,  the  "pins"  turned  out  to  haul  it  down  & 
were  only  stopped  by  a  superior  force,  they  retired  swearing  that  "it 
should  yet  be  done  &  its  raiser  killed"  and  now  Sir,  let  me  say  a  word 
in  behalf  of  the  full  Indians  who  make  up  in  devotion  to  our  Gov't 
what  they  lack  in  knowledge. 

I  sometimes  hear  rejoicing  on  the  part  of  Northern  people,  that  these 
tribes  are  seceding,  because  they  say  such  violation  of  their  treaties 
will  lose  them  their  lands,  whose  beauty  &  fertility  have  long  been  ad- 
mired by  western  farmers.  I  have  been  twelve  years  among  these 
tribes  &  I  know  the  full  bloods  to  be  loyal  to  the  Gov't.  That  Gov't 
is  bound  by  treaties  to  protect  these  nations,  to  keep  up  Forts  for  that 
purpose.  The  forts  are  deserted,  the  soldiers  are  gone.  The  Agents 
are  either  resigned  or,  working  under  "confederate"  commissions.  The 
Indians  are  told  that  the  old  Gov't  is  bankrupt,  that  it  must  die,  that 
England  &  France  will  help  the  South,  That  they  are  southern  Indians 
&  own  slaves,  &  have  interests  only  with  &  in  the  south,  That  the  war 
is  waged  by  the  North  for  the  sole  purpose  of  killing  slavery,  &  steal- 
ing the  Indian  lands  etc.  etc.  What  have  the  Indians  with  which  to 
disprove  this?  The  "Confederate"  Gov't  is  represented  there  by  an 
army  &  Commissioners,  but  the  United  States  have  not  been  heard  from 
for  six  months.  Every  battle  is  believed  to  be  against  the  old  Gov't 
&  those  who  control  the  news  know  in  what  shape  it  should  go  to  have 
influence.  The  Seminole  Agent,  Col.  Rutherford,  has  never  lifted  his 
finger  to  give  information  or  advice  to  the  Indians  under  his  charge  - 
He  said  before  Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  seat  as  President  that  he  would  not 
receive  a  reappointment  from  him,  but  would  serve  until  it  should  come, 
which  means  that  his  love  of  money  would  enable  him  to  make  an  oc- 
casional visit  to  the  Agency  buildings,  but  his  fear  for  &  sympathy  with 
Ark.  rebels,  would  keep  him  from  doing  anything  to  endanger  their 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  87 

lie  Safety123  and  the  general  in  command,  D.  E.  Twiggs 
of  Georgia,  compliantly  yielded.  His  small  show  of 
resistance  seemed,  under  the  circumstances,  a  mere  pre- 
tense, although  he  had  his  reasons,  and  good  ones  too, 
perfectly  satisfactory  to  himself,  for  doing  what  he  did. 
Two  main  conditions  were  attached  to  the  agreement  of 
surrender;124  one,  exacted  by  General  Twiggs,  to  the 
effect  that  his  men  be  allowed  to  retain  their  arms,  com- 
missary stores,  camp  and  garrison  equipage,  and  the 
means  of  transportation;  the  other,  exacted  by  the 
Texan  commissioners,  that  the  troops  depart  by  way  of 
the  coast  and  not  overland,  as  the  United  States  War 
Department  had  designed  when,  a  short  time  before,  it 
had  ordered  a  similar  removal.123  The  precaution  of 

interests.  A  proper  officer  could  have  kept  the  Seminoles  from  sending 
a  delegation  to  Capt.  Pike,  as  well  as  in  the  Creek  country  one  could 
have  kept  the  Creeks  loyal.  That  there  has  been  the  most  culpable  neg- 
lect on  the  part  of  its  officers  to  the  interests  of  the  Genl  Gov't  needs 
no  demonstration  -  The  cry  has  been :  "More  favorable  treaties  can  now 
be  made  with  the  South  than  after  the  war,  as  it  will  show  that  the 
Indians  are  at  heart  with  the  South"  -  No  doubt  is  allowed  to  be  felt 
as  to  the  issue  of  the  war.  The  agents  who  hold  Commissions  from 
Mr.  Lincoln  &  go  to  Montgomery  to  have  Jeff.  Davis  endorse  them, 
show  a  faith  in  the  issue,  that  is  not  lost  upon  the  Indians. 

A  Capt.  Brown  of  the  Chickasaw  tribe  was  commanding  at  Ar- 
buckle,  in  the  absence  of  Col.  McKing  who  was  at  Tishimingo  where 
the  legislature  was  in  session.  He  informed  me  that  the  Texans  would 
not  come  over  until  the  Choctaws  &  Chickasaws  had  given  them  to  un- 
derstand that  "it  would  be  all  right"  -  At  the  time  these  nations  did  not 
wish  to  invite  them,  it  would  have  been  too  palpable  a  violation  of 
treaties,  tho'  they  took  command  of  the  Fort,  whether  under  their  na- 
tional authorities,  or  the  "Confederate"  I  do  not  know  which. 

Letters  now   in   possession  of  the  Seminole  Chief  will   prove  much 
herein  stated.     I  told  the  chief  to    preserve   those  letters  &  all    others 
which  he  might  receive  of  a  like  nature.     .     .  -  General  Files,  Southern 
Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ci348. 
128  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  513. 
™  —  Ibid.,  515-516. 

126  The  order  was  one  of  the  many,  dictated  by  the  policy  of  "no  coercion," 
that  issued  in  the  last  days  of  Buchanan's  administration  and  the  first  of  Lin- 
coln's. A  few  of  them,  affecting  or  designed  to  affect  the  frontier,  may  as  well 


88       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

forcing  a  coastwise  journey126  was  taken  by  the  Texan 
commissioners  to  consume  time  and  to  prevent  the 
troops  being  retained  in  states  or  territories  through 
which  transit  lay  for  possible  future  use  against 
Texas.  The  easy  compliance  of  General  Twiggs12 
undoubtedly  merits  some  censure  and  yet  was  perfectly 
well  justified  to  his  own  conscience  by  the  exigencies  of 
the  situation  and  by  the  fact  that  he  had  repeatedly 
asked  for  orders  as  to  what  he  should  do  in  the  event 
of  an  emergency  and  had  received  none.  The  circum- 
stance of  his  surrender  and  the  resulting  triumph  of  the 
secessionist  element  could  not  fail  to  have  its  effect  upon 
the  watchful  Indians  to  whom  the  exhibition  of  present 
power  was  everything. 

That  the  Texan  secessionists  fully  appreciated  the 
strategic  position  of  the  Indian  nations  and  the  absolute 
necessity  of  making  some  sort  of  terms  with  them  was 
brought  out  by  the  action  of  the  convention  at  its  first 
session.  An  ordinance  was  passed  "to  secure  the 
friendship  and  co-operation  of  the  Choctaw,  Cherokee, 
Chickasaw,  Creek,  and  Seminole  Nations  of  Indians ;" 
and  three  men,  James  E.  Harrison,  James  Bourland,  and 
Charles  A.  Hamilton,  were  appointed  as  commis- 

be  listed  in  chronological  order.  On  the  thirteenth  of  February,  an  aban- 
donment of  Fort  Smith  was  ordered  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  i,  654.]. 
The  citizens  protested  and  the  order  was  countermanded  [ibid.,  655].  On 
the  fifteenth  of  the  same  month,  General  Scott  ordered,  in  the  event  of  seces- 
sion, all  United  States  troops  from  Texas,  via  Fort  Belknap  and  the  Indian 
country,  to  Fort  Leavenworth  [ibid.,  589].  On  the  eighteenth  of  March,  a 
similar  abandonment  of  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  country  was  arranged  for 
[ibid.,  667]. 

126  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  pp.  626,  628,  629. 

127  General  Twiggs  was  then  waiting  to  be  relieved  of  his  command,  hav- 
ing personally  requested  to  be  relieved,  his  sense  of  embarrassment  being  strong 
and   his  unwillingness  to  take  responsibility,  extreme.     Robert  E.  Lee,  brevet 
colonel,  Second  United  States  Cavalry,  was  relieved  from  duty  in  Texas  and 
ordered   to   repair  to  Washington,   by   orders  of   February  4,   1861    [Official 
Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  586]. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  89 

sioners128  "to  proceed  to  said  nations  and  invite  their 

128  Commissioners  of  some  sort  had  been  sent  to  the  Indians  even  before 
this.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  been,  in  any  sense,  agents  of  Texas,  indeed, 
the  ones  particularly  in  mind  were  from  Arkansas ;  but  Texas  may  have  taken 
her  cue  from  their  appointment.  Their  presence  in  the  Indian  country  is 
sufficiently  attested  by  the  following  correspondence: 

I  have  been  informed  today  that  persons  purporting  to  act  in  the 
capacity  of  Commissioners  are  now  visiting  the  Indian  nations  on  our 
frontier  -  preparatory  to  forming  an  alliance  with  them  to  furnish  them 
with  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  in  violation  of  subsisting  treaties  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States.  Occupying  the  position  I  do  as  a  Civil 
officer  of  the  Government  in  discharge  of  my  duty  as  well  as  instruc- 
tions, It  is  my  duty  to  make  inquiry  and  report  such  a  state  of  facts  as 
may-exist  in  relation  to  the  same.  And  having  no  authentic  informa- 
tion in  relation  to  this  matter  other  than  public  rumor,  I  have  believed 
it  my  duty  to  address  you  knowing  that  if  such  projects  are  in  embryo 
or  consummation  that  they  cannot  escape  your  vigilance ;  and  that  from 
you  I  shall  be  informed  of  the  same,  that,  they  may  be  communicated 
from  a  reliable  official  source  to  the  authorities  at  Washington  for  their 
action.  -  JOHN  B.  OGDEN,  United  States  commissioner,  to  John  Ross, 
dated  Van  Buren,  February  15,  1861  [Indian  Office,  General  Files, 
Cherokee,  1859-1865,  032]. 

I  have  received  your  communication  of  the  i$th  inst.  -  stating  that 
you  have  been  informed  that  persons  purporting  to  act  in  the  capacity 
of  commissioners  are  now  visiting  the  Indian  Nations  on  the  frontier 
preparatory  to  forming  an  alliance.  .  . 

It  is  currently  rumored  in  the  Country  that  Mr.  R.  J.  Cowart-the 
U.  S.  Agent  -  is  officially  advocating  the  secession  policy  of  the  Southern 
States  and  that  he  is  endeavoring  to  influence  the  Cherokees  to  take 
sides  and  act  in  concert  with  the  seceded  States -At  the  same  time  ut- 
tering words  of  denunciation  against  all  the  distinguished  Patriots  who 
are  exerting  their  efforts,  to  devise  measures  of  reconciliation  in  Con- 
gress as  well  as  those  in  the  Peace  Convention  at  Washington  for  the 
Preservation  of  the  Union. 

Mr.  Cowart  brought  out  with  him  from  the  State  of  Georgia  a  man 
named  -  Solomon  -  who  is  a  notorious  drunken  brawling  disunionist. 
He  is  strolling  about  Tahlequah  under  the  permission  of  the  socalled 
"U.S.  Agent"  -  and  is  creating  strife  &  getting  into  difficulties  with 
citizens  of  the  Nation  -  a  perfect  nuisance  to  the  peace  and  good  order 
of  society. 

The  conduct  and  general  deportment  of  this  man,  also  of  the  Agent 
being  in  direct  violation  of  the  laws  and  Treaties  of  the  United  States  - 
they  should  be  removed  out  of  the  Cherokee  Country. 

For  further  information  as  to  such  facts  relating  to  the  subjects  of 
your  enquiry,  I  have  to  refer  you  at  present  to  Mr.  W.  P.  Ross  for  what 
he  may  be  in  possession  of.  .  .  -  JOHN  Ross  to  John  B.  Ogden,  Febru- 
ary 28,  1861  [Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  032]. 


90       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

prompt  co-operation  in  the  formation  of  a  Southern 
Confederacy."129 

Now  before  following  these  men  in  the  execution  of 
their  mission,  it  may  be  advisable,  for  breadth  of  view, 
to  illustrate  how  Texas  still  further  made  Indian  rela- 
tions an  issue  most  prominent  in  all  the  earlier  stages 
of  her  secession  movement;  but  at  the  very  outset  it  must 
be  admitted  that,  in  so  doing,  she  differentiated  care- 
fully between  the  civilized  and  the  uncivilized  tribes. 
With  the  one  group  she  was  ready  to  seek  an  alliance, 
offensive  and  defensive,  but  with  the  other  to  wage  a 
relentless,  exterminating  war.  The  failure  of  the 
United  States  central  government  to  protect  her  against 
the  aggressions  and  the  atrocities  so-called  of  the  wild 
tribes  was  cited  by  her  as  one  principal  justification  for 
withdrawal  from  the  Union,130  her  obvious  purpose  be- 
ing to  gain  thereby  the  adherence  of  the  northern  coun- 
ties, non-slaveholding  but  frontier.  Almost  conversely, 
on  the  other  hand,  Governor  Houston  gave  as  one  good 
and  sufficient  reason  for  not  withdrawing  from  the 
Union,  the  fear  that  should  the  Union  be  dissolved  the 
wild  tribes,  who  were  now,  in  a  measure,  restrained 
from  committing  depredations  and  enormities  by  the 
very  nature  of  their  treaty  guaranties,  would  be  literally 
let  loose  upon  Texas.131  As  far  as  the  civilized  tribes 
were  concerned,  however,  all  were  of  one  mind  and  that 
took  the  form  of  the  conviction  that  so  great  was  the 
necessity  of  gaining  and  holding  the  confidence  of  the 
Indians,  that  Texas  must  not  procrastinate  in  joining 

129  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  322. 

"OTenney,  W.  J.  Military  and  Naval  History  of  the  Rebellion  in  the 
United  States,  134. 

181  Letter  to  the  Alabama  commissioner,  J.  M.  Calhoun,  January  7,  1861 
[Official  Records,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  74]. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  91 

her  fortunes  with  those  of  her  sister  states  in  the  Con- 
federacy.132 

James  E.  Harrison  and  his  colleagues  started  out 
upon  the  performance  of  the  duties  assigned  them,  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1 86 1.  Their  report133  of  operations  and  of 
observations  being  somewhat  difficult  of  access  and  its 
contents  not  easily  summarized,  is  herewith  appended. 
Its  fullness  of  detail  is  especially  to  be  commended. 

We  .  .  .  crossed  Red  River  and  entered  the  Chickasaw 
Nation  about  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Fort  Washita;  visited 
and  held  a  private  conference  with  His  Excellency  Governor  C. 
Harris  and  other  distinguished  men  of  that  nation,  who  fully 
appreciated  our  views  and  the  object  of  our  mission.  They  in- 
formed us  that  a  convention  of  the  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws 
was  in  a  few  days  to  convene  at  Boggy  Depot,  in  the  Choctaw 
Nation,  to  attend  to  some  municipal  arrangements.  We,  in 
company  with  Governor  Harris  and  others,  made  our  way  to 
Boggy  Depot,  conferring  privately  with  the  principal  men  on 
our  route.  We  arrived  at  Boggy  Depot  on  the  loth  day  of 
March.  Their  convention  or  council  convened  on  the  nth. 
Elected  a  president  of  the  convention  ( Ex-Governor  Walker,  of 
the  Choctaw  Nation) ;  adopted  rules  of  decorum.  On  the  I2th 
we  were  waited  on  by  a  committee  of  the  convention.  Intro- 
duced as  commissioners  from  Texas,  we  presented  our  creden- 
tials and  were  invited  to  seats.  The  convention  then  asked  to 
hear  us,  when  Mr.  James  E.  Harrison  addressed  them  and  a 
crowded  auditory  upon  the  subject  of  our  mission,  setting  forth 
the  grounds  of  our  complaint  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  wrongs  we  had  suffered  until  our  patience 
had  become  exhausted,  endurance  had  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  our 
duty  to  ourselves  and  children  demanded  of  us  a  disruption  of 
the  Government  that  had  ceased  to  protect  us  or  to  regard  our 
rights;  announced  the  severance  of  the  old  and  the  organization 
of  a  new  Government  of  Confederate  Sovereign  States  of  the 

132  "Report  of   a   Committee  of  the   Convention,   being   an  address  to  the 
people  of  Texas,  March  30,  i86i."-/W«/.,   199. 

133  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  322-325. 


92       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

South,  with  a  common  kindred,  common  hopes,  common  interest, 
and  a  common  destiny ;  discussed  the  power  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment, its  influence,  and  wealth;  the  interest  the  civilized  red 
man  had  in  this  new  organization ;  tendering  them  our  warmest 
sympathy  and  regard,  all  of  which  met  the  cordial  approbation 
of  the  convention. 

The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  are  entirely  Southern  and  are 
determined  to  adhere  to  the  fortunes  of  the  South.  They  were 
embarrassed  in  their  action  by  the  absence  of  their  agents  and 
commissioners  at  Washington,  the  seat  of  Government  of  the 
Northern  Confederacy,  seeking  a  final  settlement  with  that  Gov- 
ernment. They  have  passed  resolutions  authorizing  the  raising 
of  a  minute  company  in  each  county  in  the  two  nations,  to  be 
drilled  for  actual  service  when  necessary.  Their  convention 
was  highly  respectable  in  numbers  and  intelligence,  and  the  busi- 
ness of  the  convention  was  dispatched  with  such  admirable  de- 
corum and  promptness  as  is  rarely  met  with  in  similar  delibera- 
tive bodies  within  the  States. 

On  the  morning  of  the  I3th,  hearing  that  the  Creeks  (or 
Maskokys)  and  Cherokees  were  in  council  at  the  Creek  agency, 
on  the  Arkansas  River,  140  miles  distant,  we  immediately  set 
out  for  that  point,  hoping  to  reach  them  before  their  adjourn- 
ment. In  this  we  were  disappointed.  They  had  adjourned 
two  days  before  our  arrival.  We  reached  that  point  on  Satur- 
day evening.  On  Sunday  morning,  hearing  that  there  was  a 
religious  meeting  five  miles  north  of  the  Arkansas  River,  in  the 
Creek  Nation,  Mr.  James  E.  Harrison  attended,  which  proved 
to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  to  our  mission.  The  Reverend 
Mr.  H.  S.  Buckner  was  present,  with  Chilly  Mclntosh,  D.  N. 
Mclntosh,  Judge  Marshall,  and  others,  examining  a  translation 
of  a  portion  of  the  Scriptures,  hymn  book,  and  Greek  grammar 
by  Mr.  Buckner  into  the  Creek  language.  Mr.  Buckner 
showed  us  great  kindness,  and  did  us  eminent  service,  as  did  also 
Elder  Vandiven,  at  whose  house  we  spent  the  night  and  portion 
of  the  next  day  with  these  gentlemen  of  the  Creek  Nation,  and 
through  them  succeeded  in  having  a  convention  of  the  five 
nations  called  by  Governor  Motey  Kinnaird,  of  the  Creeks,  to 
meet  at  North  Fork  (Creek  Nation)  on  the  8th  of  April. 

In  the  intermediate  time  we  visited  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
calling  on  their  principal  men  and  citizens,  conversing  with 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  93 

them  freely  until  we  reached  Tahlequah,  the  seat  of  government. 
Near  this  place  Mr.  John  Ross  resides,  the  Governor  of  the 
nation.  We  called  on  him  officially.  We  were  not  unex- 
pected, and  were  received  with  courtesy,  but  not  with  cordiality. 
A  long  conference  was  had  with  him,  conducted  by  Mr.  Har- 
rison on  the  part  of  the  commissioners,  without,  we  fear,  any 
good  result.  He  wras  very  diplomatic  and  cautious.  His  posi- 
tion is  the  same  as  that  held  by  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  inaugural  ; 
declares  the  Union  not  dissolved ;  ignores  the  Southern  Govern- 
ment. The  intelligence  of  the  nation  is  not  with  him.  Four- 
fifths,  at  least,  are  against  his  views,  as  we  learned  from  observa- 
tion and  good  authorities.  He,  as  we  learned,  had  been  urged 
by  his  people  to  call  a  council  of  the  nation  (he  having  the  only 
constitutional  authority  to  do  so),  to  take  into  consideration  the 
embarrassed  condition  of  political  affairs  in  the  States,  and  to 
give  some  expression  of  their  sentiments  and  sympathies.  This 
he  has  persistently  refused  to  do.  His  position  in  this  is  that  of 
Sam.  Houston  in  Texas,  and  in  all  probability  will  share  the 
same  fate,  if  not  a  worse  one.  His  people  are  already  oppressed 
by  a  Northern  population  letting  a  portion  of  territory  pur- 
chased by  them  from  the  United  States,  to  the  exclusion  of 
natives,  and  we  are  creditably  informed  that  the  Governors  of 
some  two  or  more  of  the  Western  free-soil  States  have  recom- 
mended their  people  emigrating  to  settle  the  Cherokee  country. 
It  is  due  Mr.  John  Ross,  in  this  connection,  to  say  that  during 
our  conference  with  him  he  frequently  avowed  his  sympathy  for 
the  South,  and  that,  if  Virginia  and  the  other  Border  States 
seceded  from  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  his  people 
would  declare  for  the  Southern  Government  that  might  be 
formed.  The  fact  is  not  to  be  denied  or  disguised  that  among 
the  common  Indians  of  the  Cherokees  there  exists  a  considerable 
abolition  influence,  created  and  sustained  by  one  Jones,  a  North- 
ern missionary  of  education  and  ability,  who  has  been  among 
them  for  many  years,  and  who  is  said  to  exert  no  small  influence 
with  John  Ross  himself. 

From  Tahlequah  we  returned  to  the  Creek  Nation,  and  had 
great  satisfaction  in  visiting  their  principal  men  —  the  Mcln- 
toshes,  Stidhams,  Smiths,  Vanns,  Rosses,  Marshalls,  and  others 
too  numerous  to  mention.  Heavy  falls  of  rain  occurred  about 


94       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  time  the  convention  was  to  meet  at  North  Fork,  which  pre- 
vented the  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws  from  attending  the  coun- 
cil, the  rivers  and  creeks  being  all  full  and  impassable.  The 
Creeks,  Cherokees,  Seminoles,  Quapa,  and  Socks  (the  three  lat- 
ter dependencies  of  the  Creeks)  met  on  the  8th  of  April.  After 
they  had  organized  by  calling  Motey  Kinnaird,  the  Governor 
of  the  Creeks,  to  the  chair,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  wait 
on  the  commissioners  present,  James  E.  Harrison  and  Capt. 
C.  A.  Hamilton,  and  invite  them  to  appear  in  the  convention, 
when,  by  invitation,  Mr.  Harrison  addressed  the  convention  in 
a  speech  of  two  hours.  Our  views  were  cordially  received  by 
the  convention.  The  Creeks  are  Southern  and  sound  to  a  man, 
and  when  desired  will  show  their  devotion  to  our  cause  by  acts. 
They  meet  in  council  on  the  ist  of  May,  when  they  will  prob- 
ably send  delegates  to  Montgomery  to  arrange  with  the  South- 
ern Government. 

These  nations  are  in  a  rapid  state  of  improvement.  The 
chase  is  no  longer  resorted  to  as  means  of  subsistence,  only  as  an 
occasional  recreation.  They  are  pursuing  with  good  success 
agriculture  and  stock  raising.  Their  houses  are  well  built  and 
comfortable,  some  of  them  costly.  Their  farms  are  well 
planned  and  some  of  them  extensive  and  all  well  cultivated. 
They  are  well  supplied  with  schools  of  learning,  extensively 
patronized.  They  have  many  churches  and  a  large  membership 
of  moral,  pious  deportment.  They  feel  themselves  to  be  in  an 
exposed,  embarrassed  condition.  They  are  occupying  a  country 
well  suited  to  them,  well  watered,  and  fertile,  with  extensive 
fields  of  the  very  best  mineral  coal,  fine  salt  springs  and  wells, 
with  plenty  of  good  timber,  water  powers  which  they  are  using 
to  an  advantage.  Pure  slate,  granite,  sandstone,  blue  limestone, 
and  marble  are  found  in  abundance.  All  this  they  regard  as 
inviting  Northern  aggression,  and  they  are  without  arms,  to  any 
extent,  or  munitions  of  war.  They  declare  themselves  South- 
erners by  geographical  position,  by  a  common  interest,  by  their 
social  system,  and  by  blood,  for  they  are  rapidly  becoming  a 
nation  of  whites.  They  have  written  constitutions,  laws,  etc., 
modeled  after  those  of  the  Southern  States.  We  recommend 
them  to  the  fostering  care  of  the  South,  and  that  treaty  arrange- 
ments be  entered  into  with  them  as  soon  as  possible.  They  can 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  95 

raise  20,000  good  fighting  men,  leaving  enough  at  home  to  at- 
tend to  domestic  affairs,  and  under  the  direction  of  an  officer 
from  the  Southern  Government  would  deal  destruction  to  an 
approaching  army  from  that  direction,  and  in  the  language  of 
one  of  their  principal  men : 

"Lincoln  may  haul  his  big  guns  about  our  prairies  in  the  day- 
time, but  we  will  swoop  down  upon  him  at  night  from  our 
mountains  and  forests,  dealing  death  and  destruction  to  his 
army." 

No  delay  should  be  permitted  in  this  direction.  They  can- 
not declare  themselves  until  they  are  placed  in  a  defensible  posi- 
tion. The  Administration  of  the  North  is  concentrating  his 
forces  at  Fort  Washita,  about  twenty-four  miles  from  the  Texas 
line,  and  within  the  limits  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation.  This  fort 
could  easily  be  taken  by  a  force  of  200  or  300  good  men,  and  it 
is  submitted  as  to  whether  in  the  present  state  of  affairs  a  for- 
eign government  should  be  permitted  to  accumulate  a  large 
force  on  the  borders  of  our  country,  especially  a  portion  con- 
taining a  large  number  of  disaffected  citizens  who  repudiate 
the  action  of  the  State. 

In  this  connection  it  may  not  be  improper  to  state  that  from 
North  Fork  to  Red  River  we  met  over  120  wagons,  movers 
from  Texas  to  Kansas  and  other  free  States.  These  people  are 
from  Grayton,  Collin,  Johnson,  and  Denton,  a  country  beau- 
tiful in  appearance,  rich  in  soil,  genial  in  climate,  and  inferior 
to  none  in  its  capacity  for  the  production  of  the  cereals  and 
stock.  In  disguise,  we  conversed  with  them  freely.  They  had 
proposed  by  the  ballot  box  to  abolitionize  at  least  that  portion 
of  the  State.  Failing  in  this,  we  suppose  at  least  500  voters 
have  returned  whence  they  came. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  this  April  23, 
1861.  .  .  , 

Presumably,  the  suggestions,  contained  in  the  closing 
paragraphs  of  the  commissioners'  report,  in  so  far  as 
they  concerned  Texas,  were  immediately  acted  upon 
by  her.  It  was  very  true,  as  the  commissioners  had 
reported,  that  a  change  was  taking  place  in  the  dispo- 
sition of  Federal  troops  within  the  Indian  country. 


96       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

About  the  middle  of  February,  a  complaint134  had  been 
filed  at  the  Indian  Office  by  the  Wichita  agent,  Mat- 
thew Leeper,  to  the  effect  that  men,  claiming  to  be 
Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  were  trespassing  upon  the 
Leased  District.  The  Reserve  Indians  asked  for  relief 
and  protection  at  the  hands  of  their  guardian,  the 
United  States  government.  Shortly  afterwards,  per- 
haps in  a  measure  in  response  to  the  appeal  or  more 
likely,  to  a  hint  that  everything  was  not  quite  as  it 
should  be  on  the  Texan  border,  Colonel  William  H. 
Emory,  First  United  States  Cavalry,  was  ordered, 
March  i3,186  to  take  post  at  Fort  Cobb.  He  was  then 
in  Washington  and,  immediately  upon  his  departure 
thence,  was  ordered,  March  i8,186  to  form  his  regiment 
at  Fort  Washita  instead,  word  having  come  from  the 
commander  at  that  post,137  in  a  report  of  the  third  in- 
stant, of  a  threatened  attack  by  Texans.  In  explanation 
of  a  policy  so  vacillating,  Emory  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  the  change  of  destination  was  really  made  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  agent  and  delegation  of  the  Chick- 
asaws. Those  men  were  in  Washington,  out  of  reach 
of  and  apparently  out  of  sympathy  with,  the  events 
transpiring  at  home.  Agent  Cooper,  secessionist 
though  he  was,  probably  did  not  altogether  approve  of 
the  interference  of  the  Texans.  At  any  rate,  he  shared 
the  representations  of  the  Chickasaw  delegation  that 
Fort  Washita  stood  in  need  of  reenforcement,138  and 
the  War  Department  acceded  to  their  request  on  the 
ground  that,  "The  interests  of  the  United  States  are 

is*  Leeper   to    Greenwood,    February    12,    1861    [General    Files,    Wichita, 
1860-1861,  L373]. 

135  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  i,  656. 


—  Ibid.,  660. 

—  Ibid.,  648. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  97 

paramount  to  those  of  the  friendly  Indians  on  the  reser- 
vation near  Fort  Cobb."139 

Emory's  orders  further  comprehended  a  concentra- 
tion of  all  the  troops  at  Fort  Washita  that  were  then 
at  that  place  and  at  Forts  Cobb  and  Arbuckle;140  but 
the  orders  were  discretionary  in  their  nature  and  per- 
mitted his  leaving  a  small  force  at  the  more  northern 
posts  should  circumstances  warrant  or  demand  it.  On 
the  nineteenth,  General  Scott  had  had  a  conference 
with  Senator  Charles  B.  Mitchell  of  Arkansas  and,  in 
deference  to  Mitchell's  opinion,  still  further  modified 
his  orders  to  Emory  so  that,  while  leaving  him  the  bulk 
of  his  discretionary  power,  he  recommended  that,  if 
advisable,  Emory  retain  one  company  at  Fort  Cobb.141 
In  any  event,  one  company  of  infantry  was  to  move  in 
advance  from  Fort  Arbuckle  to  Fort  Washita.142 

Up  to  the  twenty-fourth  of  March,  at  which  time  he 
left  Memphis,  Colonel  Emory  made  pretty  good  time 
in  his  attempt  to  reach  his  destination ;  but  from  Mem- 
phis on  his  movements  were  unavoidably  and  consider- 
ably hampered.  Low  water  in  the  Arkansas  detained 
him  for  several  days  so  that  he  deemed  it  prudent  to 
send  his  orders  on  ahead  to  the  commanding  officer  at 
Fort  Arbuckle  "to  commence  the  movement  upon  Fort 
Washita,  and,  in  the  event  of  the  latter  place  being 
threatened,  to  march  to  its  support  with  his  whole 
force."143  On  reaching  Fort  Smith,  Emory  found  that 
matters  had  come  to  a  crisis  in  Arkansas  and,  touching 

139  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  i,  656. 

140  The  Indian  Office  protested  against  a  reduction  of  the  forts  because  of 
treaty  guaranties  to  the  Indians  [Dole  to  Smith,  April  30,  1861,  Indian  Office, 
Report  Book,  no.  12,  p.  152]. 

141  Townsend  to  Emory,  March  21,  1861    [Official  Records,   first  ser.,  vol. 

«f  659}- 

142  Same  to  same,  ibid.,  660. 

143  Emory  to  Townsend,  April  2,  1861  [ibid.,  660]. 


98       The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  disposition  of  his  force  and  the  objects  of  his  mis- 
sion, allowed  himself  to  be  unduly  influenced  in  his 
judgment  by  men  of  local  predilections.144  It  was  upon 
their  advice  and  upon  the  urgent  pleadings  of  Matthew 
Leeper,145  Indian  agent  on  the  Leased  District,  that  he 
exercised  his  discretionary  power  as  to  the  disposal  of 
troops,  without  listening  to  his  military  subordinates14 
or  having  viewed  the  locality  for  himself.  In  the  in- 
terests of  these  local  petitioners,147  he  even  enlarged 
upon  Mitchell's  recommendation  and  concluded  to 
leave  two  companies  at  Fort  Cobb  as  one  was  deemed 
altogether  inadequate  to  the  protection  of  so  isolated 

144  At  the  time,  when  it  was  intended  to  remove  all  the  troops  from  Fort 
Cobb  for  purposes  of  concentration  farther  south  and  nearer  to  the  source  of 
danger,   instructions   were   issued   that  the   Reserve   Indians,    whose    peculiar 
protection  Fort  Cobb  was,  might  remove  within  the  limits  of  Fort  Washita; 
but  the  Choctaws  and  the  Chickasaws  objected  and,  in  deference  to  their  wishes, 
Emory  suspended  the  permission   [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  i,  663],  his 
excuse  being  that  Fort  Cobb  was  not  to  be  abandoned  anyway.     The  contract- 
ors, Johnson  and  Grimes,  whom  Superintendent  Rector  had  so  much  favored, 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  forming  of  this  decision.     They  told  Emory 
that  the  Reserve  Indians  were  not  free  to  move;  for  they  had  no  means  and 
that  they  were  "hutted  and  planting  at  Fort  Cobb."     Quite  naturally  the  food 
contractors  did  not  wish  the  Indians  to  be  taken  out  of  their  reach  within  the 
limits  of  a  military  reservation. 

145  Matthew  Leeper  was  very  insistent.     He  not  only  wrote  letters  to  Emory 
arguing  his  case  but  travelled  from  his  agency  to  Fort  Smith  to  interview  him. 

146  Emory  refused  to  grant  the  appeal  of  Major  Sackett  and  Captain  Prince 
not  to  abandon  Fort  Arbuckle  {Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  5,  666]. 

147  This  circumstance  ought  not,  however,  to  be  cited  to  the  prejudice  of 
Colonel  Emory;  for  it  was  while  he  was  yet  at  Fort  Smith  that  he  manifested 
some  of  the  spirit  that  inspired  Robert  E.  Lee,  who,  by  the  way,  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  2nd  regiment  of  United  States  cavalry  and  had  been  stationed, 
like  Emory,  in  Texas,  and  who,  whether  he  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  seces- 
sion or  not,  put,  as  many  another  high-minded  Southerner  did,  the  state  before 
the  nation  in  matters  of  pride,  of  allegiance,  and  of  personal  honor.     Such  men 
as  Lee  belonged  to  quite   another  class  from  what  the  self-seeking  politicians 
did  who,  in  isolated  cases  at  least,  engineered  the  secession  movement  from 
hope  of  gain.      Many  of  the  Indian   agents  and  employees  belonged   to  this 
latter  class.     Emory  was  unlike  Lee  in  the  final  result;   for  he  did  not  ulti- 
mately conclude  to  go  with  his  state.     It  was  he  who  later  on  commanded,  as 
a  Union  brigadier-general,  the  defences  of  New  Orleans. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas  99 

a  post.  It  never  seems  to  have  occurred  to  him  that  the 
attack  would  have  to  come  from  the  south,  from  the 
direction  of  Fort  Washita,  and  that  a  force  large 
enough  to  be  efficient  at  either  Fort  Washita  or  Fort 
Arbuckle  would  necessarily  protect  Fort  Cobb  and  the 
Indians  of  the  Leased  District. 

The  position  of  the  Indians  in  the  Leased  District 
was  serious  in  the  extreme.  They  lived  in  mortal 
terror  of  the  Texans  and  their  agent,  the  man  placed 
over  them  by  the  United  States  government,  was  now 
an  avowed  secessionist.  He  was  a  Texan  and  declared, 
as  so  many  another  southerner  did  from  General  Lee 
down,  that  honor  and  loyalty  compelled  him  to  go  with 
his  state.  In  February,  he  had  been  in  Washington 
City,  settling  his  accounts  with  the  government  and 
estimating  for  the  next  two  quarters  in  accordance  with 
the  rulings  and  established  usage  of  the  Indian  Office. 
On  his  way  west  and  back  to  his  agency,  he  was  waylaid 
by  a  man  of  the  name  of  "Burrow,"  very  probably 
Colonel  N.  B.  Burrow,  acting  under  authority  from 
the  state  of  Arkansas,  who  despoiled  him  of  part  of  his 
travelling  equipment  and  then  suffered  him  to  go  on 
his  way.148  Leeper  reached  his  agency  to  find  the  In- 
dians greatly  excited.  He  endeavored  to  allay  their 
fears,  assuring  them  that  the  Texans  would  do  them  no 
harm.  Soon,  however,  came  his  own  defection  and  he 
thenceforward  made  use  of  every  means,  either  to  make 
the  way  easy  for  the  Texans  or  to  induce  the  Indians  to 
side  with  them  against  the  United  States. 

While  Emory  was  dilly-dallying  at  Fort  Smith,  the 
Texans  made  their  preparations149  for  invading  the  In- 

148  See  Appendix  B,  Leeper  Papers. 

149  Very  early,  as  has  already  been  commented  upon,  the  Texans  bethought 
them  of  securing  the  Indian  alliance.     Additional  evidence  is  to  be  found  in 
such  a  request  as  Henry  E.  McCulloch  made  of  Secretary  Walker,  on  the  occa- 


ioo     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

dian  country  and  a  regiment  of  volunteers  under  Will- 
iam C.  Young,  once  a  planter  of  Braganza  County  and 
now  state  regimental  colonel,  moved  towards  the  Red 
River.  There  is  something  to  show  that  they  came  at 
the  veiled  invitation  15°  of  the  Indians.  At  any  rate  they 
seem  to  have  felt  pretty  sure  of  a  welcome151  and  were 
close  at  hand  when  Colonel  Emory  reached  Fort 
Washita.  He  reached  Fort  Washita  to  find  that  the 
concentration  of  troops,  even  of  such  as  his  ill-advised 
orders  would  permit,  had  not  yet  fully  taken  place,  that 
his  supplies  had  been  seized  by  the  Texans,  and  that  a 
general  attack  by  them  upon  the  poorly  fortified  posts 

sion  of  his  brother  Ben's  having  passed  over  to  him  the  charge  originally  con- 
ferred upon  himself  of  raising  a  regiment  of  mounted  troops  for  the  defence 
of  the  frontier.  Henry  E.  McCulloch  requested  Secretary  Walker  to  permit  him 

To  use  some  of  the  friendly  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory,  if  I  can 
procure  their  services,  in  my  scouting  parties  and  expeditions  against 
the  hostile  Indians.  These  people  can  be  made  of  great  service  to  us, 
and  can  be  used  without  any  great  expense  to  the  Government.  -  Official 
Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  618. 

150  Letter  of  Carruth,  July  n,  1861. 

151  As  proof  that  the  Texans  regarded  the  Choctaws  and  the  Chickasaws 
as  friends,  the  two  following  letters  may  be  cited: 

A  letter  from  John  Hemphill  and  W.  S.  Oldham,  two  of  the  represen- 
tatives from  Texas  in  the  Provisional  Congress,  to  Secretary  Walker,  March 
30,  1861,  outlining  a  scheme  of  defence  for  Texas  in  which  the  admission  was 
made  that,  from  the  southwest  corner  of  Arkansas  to  Preston  on  the  Red 
River,  Texas  needed  no  defense  as  her  neighbors  on  that  side  were,  "the 
highly-civilized  and  agricultural  tribes  of  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  who  are 
in  friendship  with  Texas  and  the  Confederate  States."  -  Official  Records,  first 
sen,  vol.  i,  619. 

A  letter  from  E.  Kirby  Smith,  major,  Artillery,  Confederate  States  of 
America,  to  Walker,  April  20,  1861,  to  the  effect  that, 

In  considering  the  defense  of  the  line  of  the  western  frontier  of 
Texas  our  relations  with  the  civilized  Indians  north  of  Red  River  are 
of  the  utmost  importance.  Numbering  some  eight  thousand  rifles,  they 
form  a  strong  barrier  on  the  north,  forcing  the  line  of  operations  of  an 
invading  army  westward  into  a  region  impracticable  to  the  passage  of 
large  bodies  of  troops.  Regarding  them  as  our  allies,  which  their  nat- 
ural affinities  make  them,  the  line  of  the  western  frontier  reduces  itself  to 
the  country  between  the  Rio  Grande  and  Red  River.  -  Official  Records, 
first  sen,  vol.  i,  628. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         101 

was  to  be  hourly  expected.  Emory,  thereupon,  re- 
solved to  withdraw  from  Fort  Washita  towards  Ar- 
buckle  and  Cobb.  The  day  after  he  did  so,  April  16, 
Young's  troops  entered  in  force.  Emory  hurried  for- 
ward to  strengthen  Fort  Cobb  and,  indeed,  to  relieve 
it,  taking,  in  his  progress,  the  open  prairie  road  that  his 
cavalry  might  be  more  available.  On  the  way,152  he 
was  joined  by  United  States  troops  from  Fort  Arbuckle, 
the  Texans  in  close  pursuit.  Fort  Arbuckle  was  occu- 
pied by  them  in  turn  and  then  Fort  Cobb,  Emory  never 
so  much  as  attempting  to  enter  the  place;  for  he 
found  its  garrison  in  flight  to  the  northeast.  Fugitives 
all  together,  the  Federal  troops,  piloted  by  a  Delaware 
Indian,  Black  Beaver,153  hurried  onwards  towards  Fort 
Leavenworth.  They  seem  to  have  made  no  lengthy 
stop  until  they  were  safe  across  the  Arkansas  River164 

162  Between  Fort  Washita  and  Fort  Arbuckle,  Colonel  Emory  was  over- 
taken by  William  W.  Averell,  second  lieutenant,  Regiment  Mounted  Rifles, 
with  additional  despatches  from  Townsend,  ordering  him,  upon  their  receipt, 
immediately  to  repair  to  Fort  Leavenworth,  "with  all  the  troops  in  the  Indian 
country  west  of  Arkansas"  [ibid.,  667].  Lieutenant  Averell's  own  account  of 
his  experiences  on  the  journey  between  Washington  City  and  Fort  Washita, 
the  hardships,  difficulties,  and  delays,  also  the  frenzied  excitement  of  the  Ar- 
kansas people  over  the  prospect  of  secession,  forms  an  interesting  narrative 
[ibid.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  488,  493-496]. 

153  Black  Beaver  had  served  creditably  as  United  States  interpreter  for  the 
Wichitas  and  recently  Leeper  had  turned  to  him  for  help  in  allaying  their 
fears  [Leeper  to  Rector,  dated  Wichita  Agency,  March  28,  1861,  Leeper 
Papers'}.  For  services  rendered  on  this  expedition  northward  to  Fort  Leaven- 
worth [Letter  of  W.  S.  Robertson,  September  30,  1861,  General  Files,  Southern 
Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ri6is],  Black  Beaver  brought  a  claim  against 
the  United  States  [E.  S.  Parker  to  J.  D.  Cox,  July  i,  1869,  Indian  Office, 
Report  Book,  no.  18,  pp.  417-418 ;  and  same  to  same,  April  25,  1870,  ibid.,  no. 
*9»  P-  32I1-  Evidently  Black  Beaver  served  also  in  the  Mexican  War.  He 
was  then  head  of  a  company  of  mounted  volunteers,  Shawnees  and  Delawares 
[George  W.  Manypenny  to  Drew,  August  8,  1854],  which  had  been  called  and 
mustered  into  the  service  by  Harney  [P.  Clayton,  2nd  auditor,  to  A.  K.  Par- 
ris,  2nd  comptroller,  October  26,  1850]. 

184  Emory  to  Townsend,  May  19,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
1,  648]. 


IO2     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and  their  flight  may  well  be  said  to  have  been  a  precip- 
itous one.  Behind  them,  at  Fort  Arbuckle,  Colonel 
Young  took  possession  of  abandoned  property  and 
placed  it  in  the  care  of  the  Chickasaw  Indians,155  who 
had  materially  aided  him  in  his  attack.  His  next  move 
was  to  negotiate,156  unauthoritatively,  a  treaty  with  the 
Reserve  Indians,  gaining  the  promise  of  their  alliance 
upon  the  understanding  that  the  Confederacy,  in  return, 
would  feed  and  protect  them.  Fort  Cobb  was  rifled 
and  the  Indians  made  rich,  in  their  own  estimation, 
with  booty.157  Colonel  Young  seems  then  to  have 
drawn  back  towards  the  Red  River;  but  for  several 
months  he  continued  to  occupy  with  his  forces,158  under 
the  authority  of  Texas  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Chickasaw  Indians,  the  three  frontier  posts  that  Emory 
had  been  instructed  to  guard;  viz.,  Forts  Washita,  Ar- 
buckle, and  Cobb. 

If  Texas  took  time  by  the  forelock  in  her  anxiety  to 
secure  the  Indian  country  and  its  inhabitants,  Arkansas 
most  certainly  did  the  same;  and,  in  the  undertaking, 
various  things  told  to  her  advantage,  among  which,  not 
the  least  important  was  the  close  family  relationship 
existing  between  her  secessionist  governor,  Henry  M. 

155  Captain  S.  T.  Benning  to  Walker,  May  14,  1861  [Official  Records,  first 
ser.,  vol.  i,  653.] 
isa 


157  Leeper  to  Rector,  January   13,  1862   \Leeper  Papers'}. 

158  A  note,  communicated  by  X.  B.  Debray,  aide-de-camp  to  the  Governor 
of  Texas,  to  Walker  and  dated,  Richmond,  August  28,  1861,  says, 

The  governor  of  Texas  being  convinced  that  the  integrity  of  the  soil 
of  Texas  greatly  depends  upon  the  success  of  the  Southern  cause  in  Mis- 
souri, and  moved  by  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  Arkansas  and  Texas 
(published  at  the  beginning  of  July  by  General  Ben.  McCulloch)  or- 
dered on  the  25th  ultimo  the  raising  and  concentration  on  Red  River  of 
3,000  mounted  men,  besides  the  regiment  commanded  by  Col.  W.  C. 
Young,  which  has  been  occupying  for  several  months  Forts  Arbuckle, 
Cobb,  and  Washita,  under  authority  of  Texas,  and  at  the  request  of  the. 
Chickasaw  Indians.  -  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  5v,  98. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         103 

Rector,  and  the  southern  superintendent.  They  were 
cousins  and,  to  all  appearances,  the  best  of  friends.  It 
is  doubtful  if  in  any  state  the  executive  authority  there- 
of worked  more  energetically  for  secession  or  with 
greater  consistency  and  promptitude  than  in  Arkansas. 
Governor  Rector  had  been  elected,  in  the  autumn  of 
1860,  by  the  Democrats  and  old-line  Whigs.  He  be- 
longed to  a  numerous  and  most  influential  family,  land- 
surveyors  most  of  them,  seemingly  by  inheritance,  and, 
although  from  northern  or  border  states  originally, 
strongly  committed  to  the  doctrine  of  state  sovereignty. 
The  family  connections  were  also  powerful  socially  and 
politically.  The  gubernatorial  inauguration  came  in 
November,  1860,  and  from  that  moment  Henry  M. 
Rector  and  his  host  of  relations  and  friends  worked  for 
secession. 

At  the  outset,  Governor  Rector  identified  the  Indian 
interests  with  those  of  Arkansas.  Even  in  his  mes- 
sage159 of  December  11,  1860  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  the  two  communities  must  together  take  measures 
to  prevent  anti-slavery  migration.  It  was  rather  late 
in  the  day,  however,  to  intimate  that  men  of  abolitionist 
sentiments  must  not  be  allowed  to  cross  the  line,  and  a 
man  of  the  political  acumen  of  Henry  M.  Rector  must 
have  known  it.  Immediately  after  the  general  election 
there  were  evidences  of  great  excitement  in  Arkansas 
and,  when  news160  came  that  the  disused  arsenal  at 
Little  Rock  was  to  be  occupied  by  artillery  under  Cap- 
tain James  Totten  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  it  broke  out 
into  expressions  of  public  dissent.  Little  Rock  was 
scarcely  less  radical  and  secessionist  in  its  views  than 
was  Fort  Smith  and  Fort  Smith  was  regarded  as  a 
regular  hot-bed  of  sectionalism.  The  legislature,  too, 

159  House  Journal,  Arkansas,  1861,  p.  304. 

160  Confederate  Military  History,  vol.  x,  4. 


104     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

was  filled  with  state-rights  advocates  and  some  of  the 
actions  taken  there  were  almost  revolutionary  in  their 
trend.  With  the  new  year  came  new  alarms  and  false 
reports  of  what  was  to  be.  Harrell  records 161  that  the 
first  message  over  the  newly  completed  telegraph  line 
between  Memphis  and  Little  Rock  was  a  repetition  of 
the  rumor,  quite  without  foundation,  that  Major  Emory 
had  been  ordered  from  Fort  Gibson  to  reinforce  Totten 
at  Little  Rock,  and  that  the  effect  upon  Helena  was 
electrical.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  newspapers  and 
personal  communications162  of  the  time  showed  great 

161  Confederate  Military  History,  vol.  x,  7. 

iss  Two  letters  found  among  the  Fort  Smith  Papers  may  serve,  in  a  meas- 
ure, to  illustrate  the  point: 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARKS,  Jan*  6,  1861. 

DR  THAD:  I  received  your  letter  a  few  days  ago  ...  I  am 
thankful  that  there  are  a  few  righteous  men  left  and  particularly  grati- 
fied that  you  and  Henry  Lewis  are  true  and  faithful  to  the  South. 

I  will  endeavor  to  keep  you  posted  so  that  you  may  hold  your  own 
with  the  Union  savers  —  in  sober  truth  the  question  is  not  whether  the 
Union  ought  or  can  be  saved  but  whether  Arkansas  shall  go  with  the 
North  or  adhere  to  the  South.  Neither  Fishback  or  anybody  can  pre- 
serve the  Union  -  it  now  becomes  us  as  wise  men  to  put  our  house  in 
order  for  the  impending  crisis.  I  wrote  to  Porter  last  night -the  Sen- 
ate have  not  passed  the  Convention  bill  and  will  not  in  anything  like  a 
right  shape.  .  .  BEN  T.  Du  VAL. 

[Addressed  to  Capt.  M.  T.  Tatum,  Greenwood,  Arks.]. 

LITTLE  ROCK  ARK,  January  yth  1861. 

DEAR  THAD.  I  enclose  you  a  copy  of  the  printed  bill  now  before 
our  House  to  arm  and  equip  the  Militia  of  this  State  and  to  appropriate 
100,000$  for  that  purpose.  .  .  We  have  passed  a  bill  through  the 
House  appropriating  five  hundred  dollars  to  Porter  to  cover  his  losses 
to  some  extent  in  money  which  he  has  paid  out  in  recovering  fugitives, 
it  ought  to  have  been  a  good  deal  more,  but  I  never  worked  harder  for 
anything  in  my  life  to  get  what  we  did.  I  think  it  will  pass  the  Sen- 
ate. The  news  from  South  Carolina  indicate  a  Tea  party  at  Charleston 
before  many  days.  From  the  general  signs  of  the  times  I  think  a  Com- 
promise will  be  effect  between  the  North  and  the  South  and  the  Union 
saved.  The  Convention  bill  has  not  passed  the  Senate  yet  but  will  in 
a  few  days  I  think.  Give  my  respects  to  the  boys  generally  Your  obt 
Servt  JOHN  T.  LONDON 

[Addressed  to  Capt.  M.  T.  Tatum,  Greenwood,  Sebastian  County, 
Arkansas.] 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         105 

intensity  of  feeling  and  a  tendency  to  ring  the  changes 
on  a  single  theme. 

The  public  indignation  following  the  receipt  of  the 
unsubstantiated  rumor  that  Totten  was  to  be  reenforced 
seems  to  have  compelled  the  action  of  Governor  Rector 
in  taking  possession,168  on  February  eighth,  in  the  name 
of  the  state  of  Arkansas,  of  the  United  States  arsenal  at 

168  An  interesting  series  of  telegrams  has  a  bearing  upon  that  event. 

February  i,  1861. 
J.  J.  GREEN,  WILLIAM  WALKER,  Van  Buren,  Ark.: 

Not  possible  to  leave  here.  Southern  confederacy  certain.  Arkansas 
must  save  her  children  by  joining  it.  Write  by  mail  to-day. 

JOHNSON  and  HINDMAN 
Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  617. 

WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1861. 
JOHN  POPE,  ESQ.,  Little  Rock,  Ark.: 

For  God's  sake  do  not  complicate  matters  by  an  attack.  It  will  be 
premature  and  do  incalculable  injury.  We  cannot  justify  it.  The 
reasons  that  existed  elsewhere  for  seizure  do  not  exist  with  us. 

ALBERT  PIKE,  R.  W.  JOHNSON. 

—  Ibid.,  vol.  i,  682. 

U.  S.  SENATE,  WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1861. 
His  EXCELLENCY  H.  M.  RECTOR,  Little  Rock,  Ark. : 

The  motives  which  impelled  capture  of  forts  in  other  States  do  not 
exist  in  ours.  It  is  all  premature.  We  implore  you  prevent  attack  on 
arsenal  if  Totten  resists.  R.  W.  JOHNSON,  W.  K.  SEBASTIAN. 

—  Ibid.,  68 1. 

WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1861. 
R.  H.  JOHNSON,  JAMES  B.  JOHNSON,  Little  Rock: 

Southern  States  which  captured  forts  were  in  the  act  of  seceding, 
were  threatened  with  troops,  and  their  ports  and  commerce  endangered. 
Not  so  with  us.  If  Totten  resists,  for  God's  sake  deliberate  and  go 
stop  the  assault.  R.  W.  JOHNSON. 

—  Ibid.,  681-682. 

WASHINGTON,  February  7,  1861. 
GOVERNOR  RECTOR,  Little  Rock,  Ark. : 

For  God's  sake  allow  no  attack  to  be  made  on  Fort  Totten. 

A.  RUST. 

—  Ibid.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  617. 

February  7,   1861. 
E.  BURGEVIN,  Little  Rock: 

For  God's  sake  do  not  attack  the  arsenal.  It  can  do  no  good  and 
will  be  productive  of  great  harm.  C.  B.  JOHNSON. 

—  Ibid. 


io6     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Little  Rock;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Rector  needed  only 
an  excuse,  and  a  very  slight  one  at  that,  for  doing  more 
than  he  had  already  done  to  prove  his  sectional  bias. 
Nor  had  he  forgotten  or  neglected  the  Indians.  In- 
deed, never  at  any  time  did  he  leave  a  single  stone  un- 
turned in  his  search  for  inside  and  outside  support;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Arkansas  Ordinance 
of  Secession  was  not  passed  until  the  sixth  of  May, 
Governor  Rector  conducted  himself,  for  months  before 
that,  as  though  the  state  were  a  bona  fide  member  of 
the  Confederacy.  In  all  his  audacious  venturings,  pro- 
posals, and  acts,  he  had  the  full  and  unquestioning 
support,  not  only  of  his  cousin,  Elias  Rector,164  in  whose 
honor  Albert  Pike  had  written  the  well-known  par- 

LITTLE  ROCK,  February  8,  1861. 

C.  B.  JOHNSON,  Washington: 

Spoke  too  late,  like  Irishman  who  swallowed  egg.     Arsenal  in  hands 

of  Governor.  EDMUND  BURGEVIN. 

Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  617. 

The  senders  and  recipients  of  the  telegraphic  dispatches  were,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  all  relatives  of  each  other,  and  all  in  public  life.  Robert 
Ward  Johnson  and  William  K.  Sebastian  were,  at  the  time,  United  States  sen- 
ators from  Arkansas;  Thomas  C.  Hindman  and  Albert  Rust  were  Arkansas 
representatives  in  Congress;  Albert  Pike  was  in  Washington,  prosecuting  the 
Choctaw  Indian  claim;  Edmund  Burgevin  was  the  attorney-general  of  Ar- 
kansas and  a  brother-in-law  of  Governor  Rector;  Richard  H.  Johnson  and 
James  Johnson  were  brothers  of  Robert  W.  Johnson,  the  former  being  proprie- 
tor and  editor  of  the  Little  Rock  Democrat  and  the  latter,  in  future  years,  a 
colonel  in  the  Confederate  army.  In  1868,  R.  W.  Johnson  moved  to  Wash- 
ington City  and  became  the  law  partner  of  Albert  Pike.  [Arkansas  His- 
torical Association,  Publications,  vol.  ii,  268.]  Hindman  was  the  man  who 
sneered  at  the  precautions  taken  to  insure  President-elect  Lincoln's  safety 
[Stanwood,  History  of  Presidential  Elections,  235].  Sebastian  was  expelled 
from  the  Senate  because  of  his  southern  sympathies;  but,  as  he  really  took  no 
active  part  in  the  Confederate  movements,  the  resolution  of  expulsion  was 
rescinded  in  1878. 

164  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  Elias  Rector  had  as  yet  for- 
mulated any  such  plan  for  personal  aggrandizement  such  as  must  have  been 
in  his  mind  when  he  wrote  the  letter  to  Douglas  H.  Cooper  that  called  forth 
from  Cooper  the  following  response: 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         107 

ody165  on  "The  Old  Scottish  Gentlemen;"166  but  of  the 
leading  citizens  of  Fort  Smith  and  Little  Rock,  partic- 

Private  &  Confidential 

Copy  FORT  SMITH  May  ist  1861. 

MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR 

Dr.  Sir:  I  have  concluded  to  act  upon  the  suggestion  yours  of  the 
28th  Ultimo  contains. 

If  we  work  this  thing  shrewdly  we  can  make  a  fortune  each,  satisfy 
the  Indians,  stand  fair  before  the  North,  and  revel  in  the  unwavering 
confidence  of  our  Southern  Confederacy. 

My  share  of  the  eighty  thousand  in  gold  you  can  leave  on  deposite 
with  Meyer  Bro,  subject  to  my  order.  Write  me  soon.  COOPER. 

Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1863-1864.,  1435. 
The  foregoing  letter  of  Cooper's  was  one  of  those  referred  to  in  the  fol- 
lowing telegraphic  communication  from  Special  Agent  G.  B.  Stockton  to  Sec- 
retary Usher,  dated  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  February  20,  1864: 

I  have  just  found  &  have  now  in  this  office  a  large  desk  containing 
Indian  papers  treaties  correspondence  of  Cooper  Rector  &  others,  corre- 
spondence of  W.  P.  Dole  as  late  as  May  fifteenth  1861  vouchers  ab- 
stracts &  correspondence  convicting  Rector  &  Cooper  of  enticing  the 
various  tribes  to  become  enemies  of  the  U.  S.  The  papers  extend  back 
as  far  as  1834  will  you  please  direct  me  what  disposition  to  make  of 
them. 

Secretary  Usher  referred  the  matter  to  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs  and 
Mix  instructed  Stockton  to  send  the  papers  on  to  Washington  [Letter  of  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1864].  This  Stockton  did  and  notified  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs  in  this  wise,  by  telegraph : 

I  have  boxed  the  Indian  Papers  which  I  found  at  this  place,  and  this 
day  send  them  by  wagons  to  Leavenworth  City,  Kansas,  to  be  thence 
forwarded  by  the  American  Express  Company. 

There  seems  to  have  been  considerable  delay  in  their  transmittal  after 
they  had  passed  into  the  custodianship  of  the  express  company  but  they 
eventually  reached  the  Indian  Office  and  to-day  form  part  of  the  Fort  Smith 
collection. 

165  The  melodious  refrain  of  this, 

That  fine  Arkansas  gentleman, 
Close  to  the  Choctaw  line. 

unconsciously  brings  out  one  of  the  very  ideas  sought  to  be  conveyed  by  the 
present  chapter;  namely,  the  extremely  close  connection  between  Arkansas 
and  Indian  Territory. 

we  This  old,  old  song,  "written  on  the  model  and  to  the  air  of  'The  Old 
Country  Gentleman',"  runs  thus: 

The  song  I'll  sing,  though  lately  made,  it  tells  of  olden  days, 
Of  a  good  old  Scottish  gentleman,  of  good  old  Scottish  ways; 


io8     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ularly  of  those  whose  previous  occupations,  residence, 
inclinations,  or  interests  had  made  them  conversant  with 
Indian  affairs  and,  therefore,  unusually  appreciative  of 
the  strategic  value  of  the  Indian  country.  Under  such 
circumstances,  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  Governor 
Rector  seized,  as  he  did,  the  earliest187  opportunity  to 
approach  the  Cherokees.  Fort  Smith  at  the  junction 
of  the  Arksansas  and  Poteau  Rivers  was  only  eighty 
miles  from  Fort  Gibson. 

Before  taking  up  for  special  comment  Governor 
Rector's  negotiations  with  the  Cherokees  through  their 
principal  chief,  John  Ross,  it  might  be  well  to  retrace 
our  steps  a  little  in  order  to  show  how,  in  yet  other  ways, 
Arkansas  interested  herself  more  than  was  natural  in 
the  concerns  of  the  Indians  and  made  some  of  her  citi- 
zens, in  the  long  run,  more  than  ordinarily  responsible 
for  the  development  of  secessionist  sentiment  among  the 
southern  tribes. 

When  David  Hubbard,  journeying  westward  as 
special  secessionist  commissioner168  from  Alabama  to 
Arkansas,  reached  Little  Rock -and  that  was  in  the 
early  winter  of  i86i-he  soon  discovered  that  many 
Arkansans  were  not  willing  for  their  state  to  go  out  of 
the  Union  unless  she  could  take  Indian  Territory  with 
her.  Hubbard's  letter,169  descriptive  of  the  situation,  is 
very  elucidating.  It  is  addressed  to  Andrew  B. 

When  our  barons  bold  kept  house  and  hold,  and  sung  their  olden  lays 
And  drove  with  speed  across  the  Tweed,  auld  Scotland's  bluidy  faes, 
Like  brave  old  Scottish  gentlemen,  all  of  the  olden  time. 
Scottish  Songs,  printed  by  W.  G.  Blackie  and  Company  (Glasgow). 

167  The  commissioners  to  whom  Ogden  referred  in  his  letter  of  February 
15,   1861,  may  have  been  the  tangible  evidence  of  Governor  Rector's  first  at- 
tempt to  influence  the  Indians. 

168  Fleming,  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction  in  Alabama,  46,  footnote  i. 

169  Smith,  Debates  of  the  Alabama  Convention,  443-444;   Official  Records, 
fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  3. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         109 

Moore,170  governor  of  Alabama,  and  bears  date  Kin- 
loch,  Alabama,  January  third. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  On  receipt  of  your  letter  and  appointment 
as  commissioner  from  Alabama  to  Arkansas,  I  repaired  to  Little 
Rock  and  presented  my  credentials  to  the  two  houses,  and  also 
your  letter  to  Governor  Rector,  by  all  of  whom  I  was  politely 
received.  The  Governor  of  Arkansas  was  every  way  disposed 
to  further  our  views,  and  so  were  many  leading  and  influential 
members  of  each  house  of  the  Legislature,  but  neither  are  yet 
ready  for  action,  because  they  fear  the  people  have  not  yet  made 
up  their  minds  to  go  out.  The  counties  bordering  on  the  In- 
dian nations  -  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws  — 
would  hesitate  greatly  to  vote  for  secession,  and  leave  those 
tribes  still  under  the  influence  of  the  Government  at  Washing- 
ton, from  which  they  receive  such  large  stipends  and  annuities. 
These  Indians  are  at  a  spot  very  important,  in  my  opinion,  in 
this  great  sectional  controversy,  and  must  be  assured  that  the 
South  will  do  as  well  as  the  North  before  they  could  be  induced 
to  change  their  alliances  and  dependence.  I  have  much  on  this 
subject  to  say  when  I  get  to  Montgomery,  which  cannot  well 
be  written.  The  two  houses  passed  resolutions  inviting  me  to 
meet  them  in  representative  hall  and  consult  together  as  to  what 
had  best  be  done  in  this  matter.  When  I  appeared  men  were 
anxious  to  know  what  the  seceding  States  intended  to  do  in  cer- 
tain contingencies.  My  appointment  gave  me  no  authority  to 
speak  as  to  what  any  State  would  do,  but  I  spoke  freely  of  what, 
in  my  opinion,  we  ought  to  do.  I  took  the  ground  that  no  State 
which  had  seceded  would  ever  go  back  without  full  power  be- 
ing given  to  protect  themselves  by  vote  against  anti-slavery 
projects  and  schemes  of  every  kind.  I  took  the  position  that  the 
Northern  people  were  honest  and  did  fear  the  divine  displeasure, 
both  in  this  world  and  the  world  to  come,  by  reason  of  what 
they  considered  the  national  sin  of  slavery,  and  that  all  who 
agreed  with  me  in  a  belief  of  their  sincerity  must  see  that  we 
could  not  remain  quietly  in  the  same  Government  with  them. 
Secondly,  if  they  were  dishonest  hypocrites,  and  only  lied  to  im- 

170  Governor  Moore  had  appointed  the  commissioners,  including  Hubbard, 
on  his  own  initiative  before  the  convention  met.  See  his  address,  Smith's  De- 
bates, 35. 


1 10     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

pose  on  others  and  make  them  hate  us,  and  used  anti-slavery 
arguments  as  mere  pretexts  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  Northern 
sentiment  against  us,  with  a  view  to  obtain  political  power  and 
sectional  dominion,  in  that  event  we  ought  not  to  live  with 
them.  I  desired  any  Unionist  present  to  controvert  either  of 
these  positions,  which  seemed  to  cover  the  whole  ground.  No 
one  attempted  either,  and  I  said  but  little  more.  I  am  satisfied, 
from  free  conversations  with  members  of  all  parties  and  with 
Governor  Rector,  that  Arkansas,  when  compelled  to  choose,  will 
side  with  the  Southern  States,  but  at  present  a  majority  would 
vote  the  Union  ticket.  Public  sentiment  is  but  being  formed, 
but  must  take  that  direction.  .  . 

What,  in  addition  to  that  just  cited,  Hubbard  had 
to  say  about  the  Indians  or  about  the  profit  accruing 
from  close  contact  with  them,  we  have  no  way  of  know- 
ing; but  we  have  a  right  to  be  suspicious  of  the  things 
that  have  to  be  communicated  by  word  of  mouth  only, 
especially  in  this  instance,  when  we  remember  that 
white  men  have  always  made  the  Indians  subjects  of 
exploitation  and  that  Hubbard  was  the  man  whom  the 
southern  Confederacy  chose  for  its  first  commissioner 
of  Indian  affairs,  also  that  Hubbard's  first  outline  of 
work,  as  commissioner,  in  truth,  his  only  outline,  com- 
prehended an  extended  visit  to  the  Indians  before 
whom  he  proposed  to  expatiate  on  the  financial  advan- 
tages of  an  adherence  to  the  Confederacy  and  the  inevi- 
table financial  ruin  that  must  come  from  continued 
loyalty  to  the  Union.  All  things  considered,  it  would 
surely  seem  that  in  Hubbard's  mind  the  money  question 
was  always  uppermost. 

But  there  were  others  to  whom  the  Indian  income 
was  a  thing  of  interest.  At  the  earlier  meeting  of  the 
Arkansas  convention,  a  resolution171  had  been  passed, 
March  9,  1861,  authorizing  an  inquiry  to  be  made  into 
the  annual  cost  to  the  United  States  government  of  the 

171  House  Journal,  Arkansas,  38. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         ill 

Indian  service  west  of  Arkansas.  The  state  adminis- 
tration had  already  seized172  the  Indian  funds  on  hand, 
an  opportunity  to  do  so  having  offered  itself  upon  the 
occasion  of  the  death173  of  the  United  States  disbursing 
officer,  Major  P.  T.  Crutchfield.  But,  later,  for  fear 
that  this  might  work  prejudice  with  the  Indians  a  reso- 
lution174 was  passed  providing  that  the  money  should 
not  be  diverted  from  its  proper  uses.  Because  of  such 
actions  and  others  of  like  direction,  it  is  certainly  safe 
to  assume  that  pecuniary  considerations  made  the  fron- 
tiersmen of  1 86 1  vitally  interested  in  Indian  affairs. 
The  same  influences  that  moved  Hubbard  to  write  his 
letter  to  Governor  Moore  with  special  mention  of  the 
Indians  unquestionably  moved  the  citizens  of  Boons- 
boro  to  try,175  without  much  further  ado,  the  temper  of 
the  Cherokees. 

172  House  Journal,  Arkansas,  314,  445. 

173  January  12,  1861. 

174  The  resolution  is  found  in  House  Journal,  Arkansas,  167  and  in  Official 
Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  307.     Its  text  is  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  no  money  or  property  of  any  kind  whatever,  now  in 
the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  or  of  any  Indian 
agent,  being  placed  there,  or  designed  for  the  Indians  on  the  western 
frontier  of  Arkansas,  shall  be  seized,  but  that  the  same  shall  so  remain 
to  be  applied  to  and  for  the  use  of  the  several  Indian  Nations,  faithfully, 
as  was  designed  when  so  placed  in  their  hands  for  disbursement. 

And  the  people  of  the  State  of  Arkansas,  here  in  sovereign  conven- 
tion assembled,  do  hereby  pledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  State  of  Arkan- 
sas, that  everything  in  their  power  shall  be  done  to  compel  a  faithful 
application  of  all  money  and  property  now  in  the  hands  of  persons  or 
agents  designed  and  intended  for  the  several  Indian  tribes  west  of 
Arkansas. 

Adopted  in  and  by  the  convention  May  9,  1861. 

DAVID  WALKER,  President  of  the  Arkansas  State  Convention. 
Attest.     ELIAS  C.  BOUDINOT,  Secretary  of  the  Convention. 

BOONSBOROUGH,  ARK.,  May  9,  1861. 
HON.  JOHN  Ross: 

Dear  Sir:  The  momentous  issues  that  now  engross  the  attention  of 
the  American  people  cannot  but  have  elicited  your  interest  and  attention 
as  well  as  ours.  The  unfortunate  resort  of  an  arbitrament  of  arms  seems 
now  to  be  the  only  alternative.  Our  State  has  of  necessity  to  co-operate 


112     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Returning  now  to  Govenor  Rector  and  to  a  recital  of 
his  endeavors  with  the  same  Indian  people,  it  is  seen 
that  his  approach  to  the  Cherokees  was  made,  as  has 
been  already  intimated,  through  their  principal  chief, 
John  Ross,  and  by  means  of  the  following  most  excel- 
lently worded  letter: 

THE  STATE  OF  ARKANSAS,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Little  Rock,  January  29,  1861. 
To  His  EXCELLENCY  JOHN  Ross, 

Principal  Chief  Cherokee  Nation: 

SIR:  It  may  now  be  regarded  as  almost  certain  that  the 
States  having  slave  property  within  their  borders  will,  in  conse- 
quence of  repeated  Northern  aggressions,  separate  themselves 
and  withdraw  from  the  Federal  Government. 

South  Carolina,  Alabama,  Florida,  Mississippi,  Georgia,  and 
Louisiana  have  already,  by  action  of  the  people,  assumed  this 
attitude.  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  and  Maryland  will  probably  pursue  the  same 
course  by  the  4th  of  March  next.  Your  people,  in  their  institu- 

with  her  natural  allies,  the  Southern  States.  It  is  now  only  a  question  of 
North  and  South,  and  the  "hardest  must  fend  off."  We  expect  man- 
fully to  bear  our  part  of  the  privations  and  sacrifices  which  the  times 
require  of  Southern  people. 

This  being  our  attitude  in  this  great  contest,  it  is  natural  for  us  to 
desire,  and  we  think  we  may  say  we  have  a  right,  to  know  what  posi- 
tion will  be  taken  by  those  who  may  greatly  conduce  to  our  interests  as 
friends  or  to  our  injury  as  enemies.  Not  knowing  your  political  status 
in  this  present  contest  as  the  head  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  we  request 
you  to  inform  us  by  letter,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  whether  you 
will  co-operate  with  the  Northern  or  Southern  section,  now  so  unhap- 
pily and  hopelessly  divided.  We  earnestly  hope  to  find  in  you  and  your 
people  true  allies  and  active  friends;  but  if,  unfortunately,  you  prefer  to 
retain  your  connection  with  the  Northern  Government  and  give  them 
aid  and  comfort,  we  want  to  know  that,  as  we  prefer  an  open  enemy  to 
a  doubtful  friend. 

With  considerations  of  high  regard,  we  are,  your  obedient  servants, 
MARK  BEAN,  J.  A.  McCoLLocn, 

W.  B.  WELCH,  J.  M.  LACY, 

E.  W.  MACCLURE,     J.  P.  CARNAHAN, 
JOHN  SPENCER,  And  many  others. 

Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  xiii,  493-494;  Indian  Office,  General  Files, 
Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515. 


JOHN  Ross,  PRINCIPAL  CHIEF  OF  THE  CHEROKEES 

[From    Smithsonian    Institution,   Bureau    of   American 
Ethnology] 


THfc  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 
DIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         113 

tions,  productions,  latitude,  and  natural  sympathies,  are  allied  to 
the  common  brotherhood  of  the  slaveholding  States.  Our 
people  and  yours  are  natural  allies  in  war  and  friends  in  peace. 
Your  country  is  salubrious  and  fertile,  and  possesses  the  highest 
capacity  for  future  progress  and  development  by  the  application 
of  slave  labor.  Besides  this,  the  contiguity  of  our  territory  with 
yours  induces  relations  of  so  intimate  a  character  as  to. preclude 
the  idea  of  discordant  or  separate  action. 

It  is  well  established  that  the  Indian  country  west  of  Arkan- 
sas is  looked  to  by  the  incoming  administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
as  fruitful  fields,  ripe  for  the  harvest  of  abolitionism,  freesoilers, 
and  Northern  mountebanks. 

We  hope  to  find  in  your  people  friends  willing  to  co-operate 
with  the  South  in  defense  of  her  institutions,  her  honor,  and 
her  firesides,  and  with  whom  the  slaveholding  States  are  willing 
to  share  a  common  future,  and  to  afford  protection  commen- 
surate with  your  exposed  condition  and  your  subsisting  monetary 
interests  with  the  General  Government. 

As  a  direct  means  of  expressing  to  you  these  sentiments,  I 
have  dispatched  my  aide-de-camp,  Lieut.  Col.  J.  J.  Gaines,  to 
confer  with  you  confidentially  upon  these  subjects,  and  to  report 
to  me  any  expressions  of  kindness  and  confidence  that  you  may 
see  proper  to  communicate  to  the  governor  of  Arkansas,  who  is 
your  friend  and  the  friend  of  your  people.  Respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

HENRY  M.  RECTOR,  Governor  of  Arkansas.176 

Lieutenant  Gaines  duly  started  out  upon  his  mission 
and  upon  reaching  Fort  Smith  interviewed  Superin- 
tendent Rector  and  received  from  him  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction m  to  John  Ross,  which  was,  in  effect,  a  hearty 
endorsement  of  the  governor's  project.  An  inkling  of 
what  Gaines  was  about  soon  came  to  the  ears  of  A.  B. 
Greenwood,  an  Arkansan,  a  state-rights  man,  and 
United  States  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs.  At  the 


176  Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515;  Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  i,  683-684;   vol.  xiii,  490-491. 

177  Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515;  Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  i,  683. 


114     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

moment  he  was  the  official,  intent  upon  doing  his  duty, 
nothing  more.  It  was  then  in  his  official  capacity  that 
he  straightway  demanded  of  Agent  Cowart  an  expla- 
nation of  Gaines's  movements;  but  Cowart  was  privy 
to  Governor  Rector's  plans  undoubtedly,  a  Georgian,  a 
secessionist,  and  one  of  those  illiterate,  disreputable, 
untrustworthy  characters  that  frontier  or  garrison 
towns  seem  always  to  produce  or  to  attract,  the  kind, 
unfortunately  for  its  own  reputation  and  for  the  Indian 
welfare,  that  the  United  States  government  has  so  often 
seen  fit  to  select  for  its  Indian  agents.  More  than  that, 
Cowart  was  a  man  of  such  base  principles  that  he  could 
commercialize  with  impunity  a  great  cause  and  calmly 
continue  to  hold  office  under  and  to  draw  pay  from 
one  government  while  secretly  plotting  against  it  in  the 
interests  of  another.  On  this  occasion  he  attempted  a 
denial178  of  the  presence  of  Rector's  commissioner  at 

178  In  a  letter  to  A.  B.  Greenwood,  dated  Fort  Smith,   February  13,  1861, 
he  says: 

On  the  nth  Inst.  I  sent  a  dispatch  to  you  asking  for  Troops  and  yes- 
terday recM  an  answer  making  enquiries  as  to  the  Object  for  which  they 
are  wanted,  and  asking  if  the  Governor's  Commissioner  was  here  & 
what  was  his  Object. 

I  have  just  replyed  in  a  Dispatch,  that  the  Gov.  has  no  Com.  here 
and  has  had  none.  I  suppose  you  have  been  Tehlegraphed  that  there 
was  a  Com.  and  that  for  mischief.  Now  the  following  are  the  facts  in 
the  case  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  them.  On  Saturday  or  Sun- 
day last  there  came  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Gains  called  Dr. 
Gains  from  Little  Rock.  He  stated  his  object  was  to  visit  the  Indian 
Tribes  west  of  this  to  cultivate  with  them  friendly  Relations  and  stated 
moreover  that  he  was  authorized  to  do  so  by  the  Gov.  of  Arkansas. 
When  I  returned  your  Dispatch  I  went  to  Dr.  Gains  and  asked  him  in 
the  presents  of  witnesses  if  he  was  acting  as  Com.  for  the  Gov.  of  Ar- 
kansas he  replyed  that  he  was  not,  and  now  Sir  I  am  sorry  to  learn  to 
day  that  a  rumor  is  afloat  that  I  am  here  to  aid  in  taking  this  post  & 
that  by  having  Troops  sent  from  here  to  weaken  the  forces.  Nothing 
can  be  more  false.  In  the  first  place,  the  Citizens  have  no  Disposition 
to  interfere  with  this  post  in  any  way  and  the  truth  is  I  see  no  persons 
but  the  Officers  and  I  will  not  judge  of  their  motives. 

Them  and  myself  are  all  friendly  as  far  as  I  know  except  it  may  be 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         115 

Fort   Smith;   but  the   Indian   Office   had   soon   good 
proof179  that  a  commissioner  had  been  there  and  that  he 

they  object  to  a  Speach  I  made  here  on  Monday  night  last.  I  can  say 
and  prove  by  all  the  best  citizens  of  the  Place  that  my  remarks  were 
mild  and  conciliatory  and  could  not  be  objectionable  to  any  true  Southern 
man  this  the  citizens  of  the  City  will  bare  me  out,  the  truth  is  the  only 
objection  they  could  make  to  my  speach  was  that  it  was  unanswerable 
I  told  you  the  same  when  in  Washington.  I  appeal  to  the  Citizens  for  the 
truth  of  what  I  say.  I  desire  troops  to  protect  the  Cherokees  from  Ab- 
olition forays  from  Kansas  &  the  Neutral  land.  I  am  told  that  there 
are  three  times  the  No.  of  Intruders  now  that  there  was  there  last  fall 
and  that  violent  threats  have  been  made  by  Kansas. 

In  the  next  place  I  can  do  nothing  without  Troops  there  and  a  No.  of 
lawless  murderers  in  the  Nation  that  cannot  without  Troops,  and  I  told 
you  those  things  when  with  you  last  and  in  addition  to  the  above  facts 
the  Troops  can  live  and  support  quite  as  comfortable  and  for  less  money 
out  there  than  they  can  here.  -  Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Cherokee, 
1859-1865. 

179  The  proof  appeared  in  the  correspondence  of  John  B.  Ogden,  commis- 
sioner of  the  district  court  of  the  United  States  for  the  western  district  of 
Arkansas.  On  March  4,  1861,  Ogden  wrote  from  Van  Buren  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  the  following  letter: 

Having  learned  on  the  isth  of  Feby  last  from  rumor  the  person  ap- 
pointed as  Comr  had  been  sent  by  Gov.  Rector  of  the  State  of  Arkansas  to 
the  Indian  tribes  upon  our  frontier  for  co-operation  in  secession  move- 
ments, and  the  same  being  in  violation  of  treaty  stipulations  and  the  laws 
enacted  by  Congress  regulating  trade  and  Intercourse,  I  addressed  a 
letter  of  inquiry  to  John  Ross  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  in 
relation  to  the  same,  which  letter  accompanies  this  with  his  reply-  The 
letter  to  me  I  think  was  intended  to  be  confidential  from  its  language 
and  from  my  conversation  with  the  messenger  who  was  the  bearer  of  it 
to  me,  of  this  however  I  cannot  positively  judge  and  have  thought  best 
to  forward  the  same.  John  Ross  was  unable  to  give  me  an  imediate 
answer  as  he  was  not  personally  advised  of  the  subject  matter.  But 
upon  the  return  of  Mr  VV.  P.  Ross  who  was  a  delegate  from  the  Chero- 
kees to  a  General  Council  being  held  of  the  tribes  West  of  Arkansas 
in  relation  to  their  own  international  policy,  he  became  advised  of  the 
matter  of  inquiry  and  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the  required  in- 
formation sent  Mr  W.  P.  Ross  the  bearer  of  this  letter  to  Van  Buren 
that  he  might  fully  communicate  with  me  in  the  matter.  I  learn  from 
him  that  one  Dr  J.  J.  Gains  late  editor  of  a  secession  sheet  at  Little 
Rock,  did  attend  the  said  Council  held  by  the  Indian  tribes  west  of 
Arks  in  the  Choctaw  Nation,  and  that  said  Gains  announced  to  the 
Council  his  mission  to  be  that  of  a  Comr  from  Arkansas  accredited  by 
the  Govr  to  consult  with  them  in  relation  to  co-operation  with  the  seced- 
ing States  -  That  he  submitted  a  written  Statement  to  them  in  reference 


1 1 6     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

had  proceeded  thence  to  the  Cherokee  country.  It  was 
no  other  than  Gaines,  of  course,  who,  when  once  he  had 
delivered  the  Rector  letters  to  Ross,  saw  fit,  in  the 
further  interests  of  his  mission,  to  attend  the  inter-tribal 
council  at  the  Creek  Agency. 

to  their  interests  and  future  relations  in  the  event  of  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  -  but  that  he  was  guarded  in  his  propositions  -  You  will  learn 
from  Mr  John  Ross'  letter  that  he  informs  me  officially  that  the  present 
(agent)  of  the  Cherokees  "is  officiously  advocating  the  secession  policy 
of  the  southern  States  and  that  his  endeavoring  to  influence  the  Chero- 
kees to  take  sides  and  act  in  Concert  with  the  Seceding  Sates."  - 1  can 
state  from  my  own  information  that  when  said  Agent  is  in  Ark8  he  is 
invariably  to  be  found  upon  the  stump  "open-mouthed  and  -  "  for  dis- 
union, to  the  great  anoyance  of  the  good  people  of  the  Country.  These 
people  should  be  heard  and  their  grievances  redressed  and  the  causes 
removed,  and  some  man  of  correct  constitutional  morals  appointed  in 
his  stead.  We  have  hosts  of  such  men  in  this  State,  and  as  the  Incom- 
ing Administration  are  not  advised  of  persons  in  this  country,  allow  me 
to  suggest  that  on  application  to  the  Hon.  A.  B.  Greenwood  now  of 
Washington  the  selection  of  a  suitable  person  could  be  named.  I  have 
no  doubt,  that  would  be  satisfactory- pardon  this  apparent  officious- 
ness  -  At  this  time  my  great  anxiety  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union 
must  be  my  apology  for  what  I  have  said. 

I  also  enclose  you  a  copy  of  a  permit  furnished  me  by  Mr  Ross  is- 
sued by  said  agent.  -  Indian  Office,  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865, 

Inclosures 

1.  John  Ogden  to  John  Ross,  February  15,  1861. 

2.  John  Ross  to  John  B.  Ogden,  February  28,  1861. 

3.  CHEROKEE  AGENCY,  near  Tahlequah,  C.N. 
Isaac  G.  Freeman,  a  citizen  of  what  was  formerly  the  United  States 

and  a  farmer  by  occupation  has  permission  to  remain  with  J.  C.  Cun- 
ningham near  Park  Hill  in  said  Nation  and  labor  for  the  said  Cunning- 
ham for  twelve  months  from  this  date  subject  to  be  removed  by  the 
Agent  at  any  time  for  cause.  R.  J.  COWART,  U.S.  Cherokee  Agent. 

[Endorsement]  A  true  copy  from  the  original  as  taken  by  me  March 
ist  1861  WILL  P.  Ross 

4.  Newspaper  clippings,  one  containing  the  Choctaw  resolutions  of  Febru- 
ary 7,  1861,  and  the  other  this: 

Dr.  J.  J.  Gains,  (an  old  editor)  dropped  in  upon  us,  last  week,  on 
his  way  to  Little  Rock,  from  the  Indian  country.  His  mission  was  one 
of  peace,  and  not  to  "incite  rebellion"  as  was  telegraphed  to  Washing- 
ton City,  by  some  officious  person.  We  were  glad  to  learn  from  him, 
that  our  border  friends  are  all  right. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         117 

John  Ross  did  not  reply  to  Governor  Rector's  com- 
munication until  the  anniversary  of  George  Washing- 
ton's birthday  and  he  then  expressed  the  same  ideas  of 
concern,  of  sympathy,  but  also  those  of  positive  neutral- 
ity that  had  characterized  his  advice  to  the  Indian  con- 
ferees. He  scouted,  though,  the  very  idea  of  the  in- 
coming administration's  planning  to  abolitionize  the 
Indian  country  while  at  the  same  time  he  manifested 
his  utter  disapproval  of  it.  This  is  what  he  said: 

TAHLEQUAH,  CHEROKEE  NATION,  February  22,  1861. 
His  EXCELLENCY  HENRY  M.  RECTOR,  Governor  of  Arkansas: 
Sir:     I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  Your 
Excellency's  communication  of  the  2Qth  ultimo,  per  your  aide- 
de-camp,  Lieut.  Col.  J.  J.  Gaines. 

The  Cherokees  cannot  but  feel  a  deep  regret  and  solicitude 
for  the  unhappy  differences  which  at  present  disturb  the  peace 
and  quietude  of  the  several  States,  especially  when  it  is  under- 
stood that  some  of  the  slave  States  have  already  separated  them- 
selves and  withdrawn  from  the  Federal  Government  and  that  it 
is  probable  others  will  also  pursue  the  same  course. 

But  may  we  not  yet  hope  and  trust  in  the  dispensation  of 
Divine  power  to  overrule  the  discordant  elements  for  good,  and 
that,  by  the  counsel  of  the  wisdom,  virtue,  and  patriotism  of  the 
land,  measures  may  happily  be  adopted  for  the  restoration  of 
peace  and  harmony  among  the  brotherhood  of  States  within  the 
Federal  Union. 

The  relations  which  the  Cherokee  people  sustain  toward  their 
white  brethren  have  been  established  by  subsisting  treaties  with 
the  United  States  Government,  and  by  them  they  have  placed 
themselves  under  the  "protection  of  the  United  States  and  of  no 
other  sovereign  whatever."  They  are  bound  to  hold  no  treaty 
with  any  foreign  power,  or  with  any  individual  State,  nor  with 
the  citizens  of  any  State.  On  the  other  hand,  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  is  solemnly  pledged  to  the  Cherokee  Nation  for 
the  protection  of  the  right  and  title  in  the  lands,  conveyed  to 
them  by  patent,  within  their  territorial  boundaries,  as  also  for 
the  protection  of  all  other  of  their  national  and  individual  rights 
and  interests  of  persons  and  property.  Thus  the  Cherokee 


1 1 8     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

people  are  inviolably  allied  with  their  white  brethren  of  the 
United  States  in  war  and  friends  in  peace.  Their  institutions, 
locality,  and  natural  sympathies  are  unequivocally  with  the 
slave-holding  States.  And  the  contiguity  of  our  territory  to 
your  State,  in  connection  with  the  daily,  social,  and  commercial 
intercourse  between  our  respective  citizens,  forbids  the  idea  that 
they  should  ever  be  otherwise  than  steadfast  friends. 

I  am  surprised  to  be  informed  by  Your  Excellency  that  "it 
is  well  established  that  the  Indian  country  west  of  Arkansas  is 
looked  to  by  the  incoming  administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as 
fruitful  fields  ripe  for  the  harvest  of  abolitionism,  free-soilers, 
and  Northern  mountebanks."  As  I  am  sure  that  the  laborers 
will  be  greatly  disappointed  if  they  shall  expect  in  the  Cherokee 
country  "fruitful  fields  ripe  for  the  harvest  of  abolitionism," 
&c.,  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  Cherokee  people  will  never 
tolerate  the  propagation  of  any  obnoxious  fruit  upon  their  soil. 

And  in  conclusion  I  have  the  honor  to  reciprocate  the  saluta- 
tion of  friendship. 

I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  Your  Excellency's  obedient  ser- 
vant, JNO.  Ross,  Principal  Chief  Cherokee  Nation.180 

The  Arkansas  state  convention,  sanctioned  by  popular 
vote,  met,  by  authority  of  the  governor's  proclamation, 
March  fourth.  Its  members  were  inclined  to  tem- 
porize, however;  for,  as  Harrell  says,  they  were  co- 
operationists  m  rather  than  secessionists  and  their  policy 
of  temporizing  they  carried  out  even  in  the  provision 
made  for  reassembling  after  adjournment.  David 
Walker,  the  president  of  the  convention,  was  out  of 
sympathy  with  this ;  and,  at  the  first  news  of  the  attack 
upon  Fort  Sumter  and  while  passion  and  excitement 
were  still  at  fever  heat,  called182  an  extra  session  for  the 
sixth  of  May.  The  regular  session  was  not  to  come 
until  the  nineteenth  of  August.  Coincidently  Governor 

180  General   Files,   Cherokee,   1859-1865,    €515;   Official   Records,  first  ser., 
vol.  xiii,  491-492. 

181  Stephens  says  they  were   almost  equally  divided  on  the  question  of  se- 
cession [Constitutional  View  of  the  Late  War  between  the  States,  vol.  ii,  363]. 

182  On  April  20,  1861. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         119 

Rector  again  showed  where  his  sympathies  lay  by  re- 
fusing183 President  Lincoln's  call  for  troops. 

The  Arkansas  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  passed  on 
the  sixth  of  May.  S.  R.  Cockrell  had  proved  himself 
a  good  prophet;  for,  writing  jubilantly  to  L.  P.  Walker, 
on  the  twenty-first  of  April,  on  the  progress  of  secession, 
he  had  said,184  "Arkansas  will  go  out  6th  of  May  before 
breakfast.  The  Indians  come  next."  His  closing  re- 
mark had  some  foundation  for  its  utterance.  Intel- 
ligent and  prominent  Indians  were  to  be  found  in  the 
very  ranks  of  the  Arkansas  secessionists.  E.  C.  Bou- 
dinot,  a  Cherokee,  an  enemy  and  rival  of  John  Ross, 
and  later  Cherokee  delegate  in  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress, was  secretary183  of  the  convention.  M.  Kennard, 
a  leading  and  a  principal  Creek  chief,  seems  also  to 
have  been  influential.  The  alliance  of  the  Indians  was 
yet  being  sought.18' 

The  secession  ordinance  once  safely  launched,  the 
Arkansas  convention  turned  its  attention  without  equiv- 
ocation to  Indian  concerns.  On  the  tenth  of  May,  for 
instance,  it  followed  the  example  set  by  Texas  and 
passed  a  resolution,187  authorizing  the  president  of  the 
convention  to  appoint  three  delegates  to  visit  Indian 
Territory.  The  men  appointed  were,  S.  L.  Griffith  of 
Sebastian  County  (the  same  man,  interestingly  enough 
to  whom  the  United  States  government  had  recently 
offered188  the  Southern  Superintendency),  J.  Murphy  of 

183  Stephens,  op.  cil.,  vol.  ii,  375 ;  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  674,  687. 

184  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  686. 

185  Journal,  Arkansas  Convention,  369. 

186  The  importance  of  such  an  alliance  seems  never  to  have  been  lost  sight 
of.     In  his  message  of  May  6,  1861,  Governor  Rector  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Arkansas  was  the  most  exposed  state  in  the  Union,  because  of  the 
Indians   on  the  west   [Journal,    153].     In    various  ways,    he   emphasized  the 
strategical  value  of  Indian  Territory  [ibid.,  156]. 

187  Journal,  Arkansas  Convention,  183. 

188  See  page  183. 


I2O     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Madison  County,  and  G.  W.  Laughinghouse  of  St. 
Francis  County.  Two  of  these  counties  were  on  or 
near  the  border.  Sebastian  was  on  the  border  and 
Madison  not  far  inland,  so  Griffith  and  Murphy  very 
probably  realized  the  full  significance  of  their  mission. 
On  the  eleventh  of  May,  the  convention  tried  to  pass 
another  resolution,189  indicative  of  a  community  of  in- 
terests between  Arkansas  and  the  Indian  country.  This 
resolution  failed,  but,  had  it  passed,  it  would  have 
prayed  the  president  of  the  Confederate  States  to  erect 
a  military  department  or  division  out  of  Arkansas  and 
Indian  Territory.  As  it  was,  the  convention  contented 
itself,  on  this  occasion,  with  empowering190  Brigadier- 
general  Pearce191  to  cooperate  with  Brigadier-general 
McCulloch.192  It  took  this  action  on  the  twenty-first  of 
May  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  it  received  a  communi- 
cation193 from  Elias  Rector  concerning  the  Choctaws 
and  Chickasaws. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  this  legislative  activity, 
solicitation  of  the  Indians  came  from  yet  other  direc- 
tions. On  the  eighth  of  May,  Brigadier-general  B. 
Burroughs  of  the  Arkansas  militia  took  it  upon  himself 
to  make  an  appeal  to  the  Chickasaws,  which  he  did  in 
this  wise : 

HEADQUARTERS  EIGHTH  BRIGADE,  FIRST  DIVISION,  ARKANSAS 
MILITIA,  Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  May  8,  1861. 
Gov.  C.  HARRIS  :     To-day  we  have  information  that  Arkan- 
sas, in  Convention,  has  seceded,  by  a  vote  69  to  I.     Tennessee 

189  Journal,  Arkansas  Convention,  189. 

190  —  Ibid.,  295. 

191  N.   Bart  Pearce  had  just   been  created   by   the  convention   "brigadier- 
general  of  Arkansas,  to  command  the  Western  frontier." 

192  On  the  thirteenth  of  May,  the   Confederate  War  Department  had   as- 
signed Ben  McCulloch  to  the  command  of  the  district  embracing  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. 

193  Journal,  Arkansas  Convention,  369. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         121 

has  also  seceded,  and  made  large  appropriations  and  ordered  an 
army  of  50,000  men. 

Arkansas  has  for  several  days  past  been  in  arms  on  this 
frontier  for  the  protection  (of)  citizens,  and  the  neighboring 
Indian  nations  whose  interests  are  identical  with  her  own. 

I  have  news  through  my  scouts  that  the  U.  S.  troops  have 
abandoned  the  forts  in  the  Chickasaw  country. 

Under  my  orders  from  the  commander-in-chief  and  governor 
of  Arkansas,  I  feel  authorized  to  extend  to  you  such  military  aid 
as  will  be  required  in  the  present  juncture  of  affairs  to  occupy 
and  hold  the  forts. 

I  have  appointed  Col.  A.  H.  Word,  one  of  the  State  senators, 
and  Captain  Sparks,  attached  to  this  command,  commissioners 
to  treat  and  confer  with  you  on  this  subject.  These  gentlemen 
are  fully  apprised  of  the  nature  of  the  powers  intrusted  to  my- 
self by  the  governor  of  this  State,  and  are  authorized  to  express 
to  you  my  views  of  the  subject  under  consideration.  I  ask, 
therefore,  that  you  express  to  them  your  own  wishes  in  the  prem- 
ises, and  believe,  my  dear  sir,  that  Arkansas  cherishes  the  kind- 
est regards  for  your  people. 

I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself,  with  sentiments  of  re- 
gard, your  excellency's  friend  and  servant, 

B.  BURROUGHS,  Brigadier-General,  Commanding.194 

The  impudence  and  calm  effrontery  of  this  has  its 
humorous  side  and  would  seem  even  ridiculous  were  it 
not  for  the  fact  that  we  are  bound  to  remember  that  the 
Indians  took  it  all  so  very  seriously.  It  was  true 
enough,  as  Burroughs  said,  that  the  Federal  troops  had 
abandoned  the  Indian  country;  but  against  whom  were 
the  forts  to  be  held?  Surely  not  against  the  Federals. 
Furthermore,  what  need  was  there  for  Arkansas  to 
interest  herself  in  the  Chickasaw  forts,  since  the  Texan 
troops  were  already  in  possession?  Is  it  possible  to 
suppose  that  Burroughs's  scouts,  who  had  found  out  so 
much  about  the  withdrawal  of  the  Federal  forces,  had 
not  discovered  the  work  of  the  Texans  in  contributing 

194  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  i,  691. 


122     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

thereto?  The  Chickasaws  were  particularly  friendly 
to  the  secessionists  and,  in  this  same  month  of  May, 
passed,  by  means  of  their  legislature,  those  eight  reso- 
lutions195 in  which  they  gave  such  strong  expression  to 

195  These   resolutions  are  found  in  the   Official  Record,  first  sen,  vol.   in, 
585-587  and  are  as  follows: 

Resolutions  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Chick- 
asaw Legislature  assembled,  May  25,  1861 :  Whereas  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  has  been  broken  up  by  the  secession  of  a  large 
number  of  States  composing  the  Federal  Union  -  that  the  dissolution  has 
been  followed  by  war  between  the  parties;  and  whereas  the  destruction 
of  the  Union  as  it  existed  by  the  Federal  Constitution  is  irreparable,  and 
consequently  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  it  was  when  the 
Chickasaw  and  other  Indian  nations  formed  alliances  and  treaties  with 
it  no  longer  exists;  and  whereas  the  Lincoln  Government,  pretending 
to  represent  said  Union,  has  shown  by  its  course  towards  us,  in  with- 
drawing from  our  country  the  protection  of  the  Federal  troops,  and 
withholding,  unjustly  and  unlawfully,  our  money  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  as  trustee,  to  be  applied  for  our 
benefit,  a  total  disregard  of  treaty  obligations  toward  us;  and  whereas 
our  geographical  position,  our  social  and  domestic  institutions,  our  feel- 
ings and  sympathies,  all  attach  us  to  our  Southern  friends,  against 
whom  is  about  to  be  waged  a  war  of  subjugation  or  extermination,  of 
conquest  and  confiscation  -  a  war  which,  if  we  can  judge  from  the  dec- 
larations of  the  political  partisans  of  the  Lincoln  Government,  will  sur- 
pass the  French  Revolution  in  scenes  of  blood  and  that  of  San  Domingo 
in  atrocious  horrors;  and  whereas  it  is  impossible  that  the  Chickasaws, 
deprived  of  their  money  and  destitute  of  all  means  of  separate  self-pro- 
tection, can  maintain  neutrality  or  escape  the  storm  which  is  about  to 
burst  upon  the  South,  but,  on  the  contrary,  would  be  suspected,  oppressed, 
and  plundered  alternately  by  armed  bands  from  the  North,  South,  East, 
and  West;  and  whereas  we  have  an  abiding  confidence  that  all  our 
rights  -  tribal  and  individual  -  secured  to  us  under  treaties  with  the 
United  States,  will  be  fully  recognized,  guaranteed,  and  protected  by 
our  friends  of  the  Confederate  States ;  and  whereas  as  a  Southern  people 
we  consider  their  cause  our  own:  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Chickasa<w  Legislature  assembled,  ist.  That  the 
dissolution  of  the  Federal  Union,  under  which  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  existed,  has  absolved  the  Chickasaws  from  allegiance  to 
any  foreign  government  whatever;  that  the  current  of  the  events  of  the 
last  few  months  has  left  the  Chickasaw  Nation  independent,  the  people 
thereof  free  to  form  such  alliances,  and  take  such  steps  to  secure  their 
own  safety,  happiness,  and  future  welfare  as  may  to  them  seem  best. 

ad.  Resolved,  That  our  neighboring  Indian  nations  -  Choctaws,  Cher- 
okees,  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Osages,  Senecas,  Quapaws,  Comanches,  Kio- 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         123 

their  views,  at  the  same  time,  however,  giving  the 
Southern  States  clearly  to  understand  that  they  knew 

was,  together  with  the  fragmentary  bands  of  Delawares,  Kickapoos, 
Caddoes,  Wichitas,  and  others  within  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  coun- 
try who  are  similarly  situated  with  ourselves,  be  invited  to  co-operate, 
in  order  to  secure  the  independence  of  the  Indian  nations  and  the  defense 
of  the  territory  they  inhabit  from  Northern  invasion  by  the  Lincoln 
hordes  and  Kansas  robbers,  who  have  plundered  and  oppressed  our  red 
brethren  among  them,  and  who  doubtless  would  extend  towards  us  the 
protection  which  the  wolf  gives  to  the  lamb  should  they  succeed  in  over- 
running our  country ;  that  the  Chickasaws  pledge  themselves  to  resist  by 
all  means  and  to  the  death  any  such  invasion  of  the  lands  occupied  by 
themselves  or  by  any  of  the  Indian  nations;  and  that  their  country  shall 
not  be  occupied  or  passed  through  by  the  Lincoln  forces  for  the  purpose 
of  invading  our  neighbors,  the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Texas,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  any  attempt  to  do  so  will  be  regarded  as  an  act  of  war 
against  ourselves,  and  should  be  resisted  by  all  the  Indian  nations  as  in- 
sulting to  themselves  and  tending  to  endanger  their  Territorial  rights. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient,  at  the  very  earliest  day  possible, 
that  commissioners  from  other  Indian  nations  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  league  or  confederation  among  them  for  mutual  safety  and  protection, 
and  also  to  the  Confederate  States  in  order  to  enter  into  such  alliance 
and  to  conclude  such  treaties  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the  rights, 
interests,  and  welfare  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  that  the  co-operation  of 
all  the  Indian  nations  west  of  the  State  of  Arkansas  and  south  of  Kansas 
be  invited  for  the  attainment  of  these  objects. 

4th.  Resolved,  That  the  Chickasaws  look  with  confidence  especially 
to  the  Choctaws  (whose  interests  are  so  closely  interwoven  with  their 
own,  and  who  were  the  first  through  their  national  council  to  declare 
their  sympathy  for,  and  their  determination,  in  case  of  a  permanent  dis- 
solution of  the  Federal  Union,  to  adhere  to  the  Southern  States),  and 
hope  they  will  speedily  unite  with  us  in  such  measures  as  may  be  neces- 
sary for  the  defense  of  our  common  country  and  a  union  with  our  nat- 
ural allies,  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 

5th.  Resolved,  That  while  the  Chickasaw  people  entertain  the  most 
sincere  friendship  for  the  people  of  the  neighboring  States  of  Texas  and 
Arkansas,  and  are  deeply  grateful  for  the  prompt  offer  from  them  of 
assistance  in  all  measures  of  defense  necessary  for  the  protection  of  our 
country  against  hostile  invasion,  we  are  desirous  to  hold  undisputed 
possession  of  our  lands  and  all  forts  and  other  places  lately  occupied  by 
the  Federal  troops  and  other  officers  and  persons  acting  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  governor  of  the  Chickasaw  Na- 
tion be,  and  he  is  hereby,  instructed  to  take  immediate  steps  to  obtain 
possession  of  all  such  forts  and  places  within  the  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw country,  and  have  the  same  garrisoned,  if  possible,  by  Chickasaw 
troops,  or  else  by  troops  acting  expressly  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  au- 


124     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  extent  of  their  own  rights  and  were  determined  to 
hold  fast  to  them.  They  also  declared  that  they  wished 
to  hold  their  forts  themselves. 

On  the  ninth  of  May,  the  Indians  were  still  further 
addressed  and  this  time  by  the  citizens  of  Boonsboro, 
Arkansas,  whose  appeal  has  already  been  referred  to 
and  quoted.196  The  appeal  was  made  through  the  me- 
dium of  a  letter  to  John  Ross  and  of  him  the  citizens  of 
Boonsboro  inquired  where  he  intended  to  stand;  inas- 
much as  they  much  preferred  "an  open  enemy  to  a 

thority  of  the  Chickasaw  or  Choctaw  nations,  until  such  time  as  said 
forts,  Indian  agencies,  etc.,  may  be  transferred  by  treaty  to  the  Confed- 
erate States. 

6th.  Resolved,  That  the  governor  of  the  Chickasaw  Nation  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  instructed  to  issue  his  proclamation  to  the  Chickasaw  Na- 
tion, declaring  their  independence,  and  calling  upon  the  Chickasaw  war- 
riors to  form  themselves  into  volunteer  companies  of  such  strength  and 
with  such  officers  (to  be  chosen  by  themselves)  as  the  governor  may  pre- 
scribe, to  report  themselves  by  filing  their  company  rolls  at  the  Chick- 
asaw Agency,  and  to  hold  themselves,  with  the  best  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion, together  with  a  reasonable  supply  of  provisions,  in  readiness  at  a 
minute's  warning  to  turn  out,  under  the  orders  of  the  commanding  gen- 
eral of  the  Chickasaws,  for  the  defense  of  their  country  or  to  aid  the 
civil  authorities  in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws. 

7th.  Resolved,  That  we  have  full  faith  and  confidence  in  the  justice 
of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  embarked,  and  that  we  appeal  to  the 
Chickasaw  people  to  be  prepared  to  meet  the  conflict  which  will  surely, 
and  perhaps  speedily,  take  place,  and  hereby  call  upon  every  man  ca- 
pable of  bearing  arms  to  be  ready  to  defend  his  home  and  family,  his 
country  and  his  property,  and  to  render  prompt  obedience  to  all  orders 
from  the  officers  set  over  them. 

9th  [8th].  Resolved,  That  the  governor  cause  these  resolutions  to  be 
published  in  the  National  Register,  at  the  Boggy  Depot,  and  copies 
thereof  sent  to  the  several  Indian  nations,  to  the  governors  of  the  ad- 
jacent States,  to  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  to  Abraham 
Lincoln,  President  of  the  Black  Republican  Party. 

Passed  the  House  of  Representatives  May  25,  1865. 

A.  ALEXANAN,  Speaker  House  Representatives. 
Attest:    C.  CARTER,  Clerk  House  Representatives 

Passed  the  Senate.  JOHN  E.  ANDERSON,  President  of  Senate. 

Attest:    JAMES  N.  McLiSH,  Clerk  of  Senate. 

Approved,  Tishomingo,  May  25,  1861.  C.  HARRIS,  Governor. 

196  See  footnote  175. 


Indian  Territory,  Texas,  and  Arkansas         125 

doubtful  friend."  They  earnestly  hoped,  they  said,  to 
find  in  him  and  his  people  "true  allies  and  active 
friends."  On  the  fifteenth  of  May,  J.  R.  Kannady, 
lieutenant-colonel,  commanding  at  Fort  Smith,  also 
communicated 197  with  Ross  and  on  the  same  subject,  his 
immediate  provocation  being  the  report  that  Senator 
James  H.  Lane  was  busy  raising  troops  in  Kansas  to 
be  used  against  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  Of  the  Kan- 
nady letter,  John  B.  Luce  was  the  bearer  and,  to  it,  Ross 
replied 198  on  the  seventeenth,  the  very  day  that  he  pub- 
lished his  great  proclamation199  of  neutrality;  for  the 
otherwise  most  sensible  John  Ross  labored  under  the 
delusion  that  the  Indians  would  be  allowed  to  figure  as 
silent  witnesses  of  events.  In  this  respect,  he  was,  how- 
ever, on  slightly  firmer  ground  than  were  the  citizens 
of  such  a  state  as  Kentucky;  but,  none  the  less,  he  la- 
bored under  a  delusion  as  he  soon  found  out  to  his 
sorrow.  His  proclamation  of  neutrality  was  intended 
as  a  final  and  conclusive  answer200  to  all  interrogatories 
like  that  from  Boonsboro. 


197  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515  ;  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
xiii,  492. 

198  General  Files,  ibid.;  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  xiii,  492-493. 

199  The  text  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  various  places.    The  most  convenient 
of  such  places  are,  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  xiii,  489-490  and  Moore's  Re- 
bellion Record,  vol.  ii,  145-146.     A  manuscript  copy  of  the  proclamation  may 
be  found  in  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  0515;  and  a  synopsis  of  its 
contents  in  Moore's  Rebellion  Record,  vol.  ii,  1-2. 

200  Ross  gave  the  citizens  of  Boonsboro  their  direct  answer,  May  18,  1861 
[General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515;  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  xiii, 
494-495]- 


III.  THE  CONFEDERACY  IN  NEGOTIATION 
WITH  THE  INDIAN  TRIBES 

The  provisional  government  of  the  Confederate 
States  showed  itself  no  less  anxious  and  no  less  prompt 
than  the  individual  states  in  its  endeavor  to  secure  the 
Indian  country  and  the  Indian  alliance.  On  the 
twenty-first  of  February,  1861,  the  very  same  day  that 
the  law  was  passed  for  the  establishment  of  a  War  De- 
partment of  which  Leroy  P.  Walker  of  Alabama  took 
immediate  charge,  William  P.  Chilton,  member201  of 
the  Provisional  Congress  from  Alabama,  offered  in  that 
body  a  resolution  to  the  effect,  that  the  Committee  on 
Indian  Affairs  be  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expedi- 
ency of  opening  up  negotiations  with  the  Indian  tribes 
of  the  West  in  relation  to  all  matters  concerning  the 
mutual  welfare  of  said  tribes  and  the  people  of  the  Con- 
federate States.202  The  resolution  was  adopted.  Four 
days  later,  Edward  Sparrow  of  Louisiana  asked  that 
the  same  committee  be  instructed  to  consider  the  advis- 
ability of  appointing  agents  to  those  same  Indian 
tribes.203  The  Indian  committee,  at  the  time,  was  com- 
posed of  Jackson  Morton  of  Florida,  Lawrence  M. 
Keitt  of  South  Carolina,  and  Thomas  N.  Waul  of 
Texas.  Robert  W.  Johnson  became  a  member  after 
Arkansas  had  seceded  and  had  been  admitted  to  the 
Confederacy. 

201  The  official  list  of  members  of  the  Confederate  congresses  can  be  found 
in  Official  Records,  fourth  sen,  vol.  iii,  1185-1191. 

202  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States,  Journal,  vol.  i,  70. 

81. 


ia8     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Preliminary  steps  such  as  these  led  naturally  to  a 
comprehension  of  the  need  for  a  Bureau  of  Indian 
Affairs204  and,  on  the  twelfth  of  March,  President 
Davis  recommended205  that  one  be  organized  and  a 
commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  appointed.  His  recom- 
mendations were  acted  upon  without  delay  and  a  law206 
in  conformity  with  them  passed.  This  happened  on 
the  fifteenth  of  March  and  on  the  day  following,  the 
last  of  the  session,  Davis  nominated  David  Hubbard,207 
ex-commissioner208  from  Alabama  to  Arkansas,  for  the 
Indian  portfolio.  For  some  time,  however,  Hubbard 
had  little  to  do.209  It  is  wise  therefore  to  leave  him  for 

204  Under  the  second  section  of  the  law  of  February  21,  1861,  Indian  affairs 
had  been  left  for  general  supervision  to  the  War  Department  [Provisional  and 
Permanent  Constitutions  of  the  Confederate  States  and  Acts  and  Resolutions  of 
the  First  Session  of  the  Provisional  Congress,  48].    The  Bureau  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs, created  by  the  law  of  March  15,  1861,  was  made  a  bureau  of  the  Wat 
Department. 

205  Provisional   Congress  Journal,  vol.  i,   142 ;   Richardson,  Messages  and 
Papers  of  the  Confederacy. 

206  Provisional  and  Permanent  Constitutions,  133-134. 

207  Provisional  Congress  Journal,  vol.  i,  154. 

208  Hubbard  had  occupied  other  and  earlier  positions  of  importance ;   but 
it  must  certainly  have  been  upon  the  basis  of  the  experience  gained  in  filling 
this  one   that  his  nomination   for  commissioner  of  Indian    affairs  was  made. 
Hubbard  had  been  a  state  senator,  a  representative  in  the  twenty-sixth  and  in 
the  thirty-first  United  States  congresses,  and  presidential  elector  on  the  Demo- 
cratic ticket  in  1844  and  on  the  Breckinridge  and  Lane  ticket  in  1860  [Bio- 
graphical Congressional  Directory,  1774-1903,  608]. 

209  Tne   Bureau  of   Indian   Affairs    .     .     .     has   been   organized.     .     . 
So  far  this  Bureau  has  found  but  little  to  do.     The  necessity  for  the  ex- 
tension of  the  military  arm  of  the  Government  toward  the  frontier,  and 
the  attitude  of  Arkansas,  without  the  Confederacy,  have  contributed  to 
circumscribe  its  action.     But  this  branch  of  the  public  service  doubtless 
will  now  grow  in  importance  in  consequence  of  the  early  probable  ac- 
cession of  Arkansas  to  the  Confederacy ;   of  the  friendly  sentiments  of 
the  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws,  and  other  tribes  west 
of  Arkansas  toward  this  Government;  of  our  difficulties  with  the  tribes 
on  the  Texas  frontier;  of  our  hostilities  with  the  United  States,  and  of 
our  probable  future  relations  with  the  Territories  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico.  -  Extract   from   the   Report   of   Secretary  Walker   to  President 
Davis,  April  27,  1861  [Official  Records,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  248]. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  129 

a  while  and  resume  the  examination  of  congressional 
work. 

nThe  journal  entries  through  February  and  March 
show  that  the  Provisional  Congress  had,  not  infre- 
quently, Indian  matters  placed  before  it  and,  at  times 
presumably,  communications  direct  from  the  tribes. 
On  the  fourth  of  March,  Robert  Toombs,  himself  on 
the  Finance  Committee  and  at  the  same  time  Secretary 
of  State,210  offered  the  following  resolution:211 

Resolved,  That  the  President  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized 
to  send  a  suitable  person  as  special  agent  of  this  Government  to 
the  Indian  tribes  west  of  the  State  of  Arkansas. 

Whether  this  was  called  forth  by  the  investigations  of 
the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  under  the  Chilton 
resolution  of  the  twenty-first  of  February  or  whether  it 
grew  out  of  a  correspondence  between  Toombs  and 
Albert  Pike  does  not  appear.  Toombs  and  Pike  were 
friends,  brother  Masons212  in  fact,  and  then  or  soon 
afterwards  in  intimate  correspondence  on  the  subject  of 
Indian  relations.  The  resolution  passed,  but  there  the 
matter  seems  to  have  rested  for  a  time.  On  the  tenth 
of  May,  William  B.  Ochiltree  proposed213  that  the 
Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  consider  the  condition  of 
Reserve  Indians  in  Texas ;  and,  on  the  fifteenth,  a  most 
important  measure  was  introduced214  in  the  shape  of  a 
bill,  reported  by  Keitt  from  the  Committee  on  Indian 
Affairs,  "for  the  protection  of  certain  Indian  tribes." 
This  opened  up  the  whole  subject  of  prospective  rela- 

210  Davis  would  have  preferred  to  have  had  Toorabs  for  secretary  of 
the  treasury  [Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  Stales,  vol.  iii,  295,  note  7]. 

211  Journal,  vol.  i,  105. 

212  Both   Pike   and   Toombs   reached   in  time   the  thirty-second  degree,   or 
Scottish  Rite.     Note  Pike's  glowing  tribute  to  Toombs,  quoted  in  Richardson, 
Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Confederacy,  vol.  ii,  142. 

213  Journal,  vol.  i,  205. 
m  —  Ibid.,  225. 


130     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

tions  with  the  great  tribes  of  Indian  Territory  and, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  provision  for  a  special 
commissioner,  was  fruitful  of  great  results. 

On  the  seventh  of  May,  Thomas  A.  Harris  of  Mis- 
souri had  made  the  Provisional  Congress  acquainted 
with  some  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  resolutions,21' 
which,  in  themselves,  seemed  indicative  of  a  friendly 
disposition  towards  the  South.  This  fact  lent  to  the 
bill  for  the  assumption  of  a  protectorate  a  large  signi- 
ficance. Congress  considered  it,  for  the  most  part,  in 
secret  session.  The  text  of  the  act  as  finally  passed  does 
not  appear  in  any  of  the  published216  statutes  of  the 
Confederate  States;  but,  under  the  act,  Albert  Pike, 
special  commissioner  for  the  purpose  appointed  by 
President  Davis,  negotiated  all  his  remarkable  treaties 
with  the  western  tribes.  Three  sections  of  the  law, 
those  added  to  the  original  bill  by  way  of  amendment, 
appear  in  the  Provisional  Congress  Journal.211  They 
are  strictly  financial  in  their  nature  and  are  as  follows: 

Sec.  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Confederate 
States  do  hereby  assume  the  duty  and  obligation  of  collecting 
and  paying  over  as  trustees  to  the  several  Indian  tribes  now 
located  in  the  Indian  Territory  south  of  Kansas,  all  sums  of 
money  accruing,  whether  from  interest  or  capital  of  the  bonds 
of  the  several  States  of  this  Confederacy  now  held  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  as  trustees  for  said  Indians  or  any 

215  Just  what  particular  sets  of  resolutions  those  were  I  have  no  means  of 
knowing.     The    most    important    set   of   Chickasaw    resolutions,    those    issued 
under  date  of  May  25,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  585-587]  had 
not  yet  been  passed.     The  Choctaw  resolutions  presented  may  have  been  and 
very  probably  were  those  of  February  7,  1861  [ibid.]. 

216  On  the  twenty-first  of  May,  President  Davis  approved  "An  Act  for  the 
protection   of  the  Indian  Tribes"   [Journal,  263],  it  having  gone  through  its 
various  stages  of  amendment  and  having  passed  Congress,   May  seventeenth 
[ibid.,   244].     Adjutant-general   G.   W.   Andrews  reports,  November  4,  1912, 
that  nothing  additional  concerning  the  text  of  this  law  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Confederate  archives. 

217  Journal,  vol.  i,  244. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  131 

of  them;  and  the  said  interest  and  capital  as  collected  shall  be 
paid  over  to  said  Indians  or  invested  for  their  account,  as  the 
case  may  be,  in  accordance  with  the  several  treaties  and  contracts 
now  existing  between  said  Indians  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  several  States  of  this  Confederacy  be  re- 
quested to  provide  by  legislation  or  othenvise  that  the  capital 
and  interest  of  the  bonds  issued  by  them  respectively,  and  held 
by  the  Government  of  the  United  States  in  trust  for  said  In- 
dians, or  any  of  them,  shall  not  be  paid  to  said  Government  of 
the  United  States,  but  shall  be  paid  to  this  Government  in  trust 
for  said  Indians. 

Sec.  8.  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  to  obtain  and  publish,  at  as  early  a  period  as 
practicable,  a  list  of  all  the  bonds  of  the  several  States  of  this 
Confederacy  now  held  in  trust  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  as  aforesaid,  and  to  give  notice  in  said  publication  that 
the  capital  and  interest  of  said  bonds  are  to  be  paid  to  this  Gov- 
ernment and  to  no  other  holder  thereof  whatever. 

Before  this  bill  for  the  protection  of  the  Indians  had 
come  up  for  discussion  or  had  even  emerged  from  the 
rooms  of  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  Albert  Pike, 
in  letters  to  Toombs  and  R.  W.  Johnson,  had  pointed 
out  most  emphatically  the  military  necessity  of  secur- 
ing218 the  Indian  country.  His  conviction  was  strong 
that  the  United  States  had  no  idea  of  permanently 
abandoning  the  same  but  would  soon  replace  the  reg- 
ular troops,  it  had  withdrawn  from  thence,  by  volun- 
teers. Pike  discussed  the  matter  with  N.  Bart  Pearce 
and  the  two  agreed 219  that  there  was  no  time  to  lose  and 
that  something  must  be  done  forthwith  to  prevent  the 

218  Governor  Clark  of  Texas,  also,  at  this  time  displayed  great  interest  in 
the  matter.     On  the  fifteenth  of  May,  he  wrote  to  President  Davis  that  he  was 
constituting  James  E.  Harrison,  a  man  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  whole 
subject,  "the  duly  accredited  agent  of  Texas  to  convey"  the  Report  of  April  23, 
1861  to  Richmond  [Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  5,  322]. 

219  See  letter  from  Pearce  to  President  Davis,  May  13,  1861  [ibid.,  first  sen, 
vol.  iii,  576]. 


132     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

possibility  of  Federal  emissaries  gaining  a  foothold 
among  the  great  tribes;  for,  if  they  did  gain  such  a 
foothold,  their  influence  was  likely  to  be  very  great, 
especially  among  the  Cherokees  who  might  be  regarded 
as  predisposed  to  favor  them,  they  having  many  aboli- 
tionists on  their  tribal  rolls.  Whether,  at  so  early  a 
date,  Pike  thought  formal  negotiation,  as  had  been  cus- 
tomary, the  preferable  method  of  procedure,  we  are 
not  prepared  to  say,  positively.  Formal  negotiation 
was  scarcely  consistent  with  the  southern  argument  of 
Jackson's  time  or  consonant  with  present  state-rights 
doctrine.  When  writing220  to  Johnson  on  the  eleventh 
of  May,  Pike  seems  to  have  been  thinking  simply  of 
Indian  enlistment  and  of  the  use  of  white  and  red  troops 
in  the  defense  of  the  Indian  country.  At  that  date  his 
own  appointment221  as  diplomatic  agent  for  the  nego- 
tiation of  treaties  of  amity  and  alliance  was  certainly 
not  prominently  before  him.  He  expressed  himself  to 
Johnson  in  such  a  way,  indeed,  as  would  lead  us  to 
suppose  that  the  position  he  half  expected  to  get,  and 
did  not  altogether  want,  was  that  of  commander  of  an 
Indian  Department  which  he  hoped  would  be  created. 
For  such  a  position  Pike  was  not  entirely  unfitted. 
He  had  served  in  the  Mexican  War  and  had  attained 
the  rank  of  captain;  but  his  tastes  were  certainly  not 
what  one  would  call  military.  He  was  a  poet222  of 
acknowledged  reputation  and  a  lawyer  of  eminence. 
Arkansas  had  recognized  him  as  one  of  her  foremost 
citizens  by  sending  him  as  her  one  and  only  dele- 

220  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  572-574. 

221  Pike  was  appointed  under  authority  of  a  resolution  passed  by  Congress, 
March  5,  1861.     See  Message  of  President  Davis,  December  12,  1861   [ibid., 
fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  785]. 

222  To-day  he  is,  perhaps,  best  known  by  his  parody  on  "Dixie"  and  by  his 
singularly    beautiful    and    pathetic    "Every   Year"    [Poems,   Roome's    edition, 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  133 

gate  to  the  Commercial  Convention223  of  Southern  and 
Western  States,  held  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
April,  1854.  Just  recently,  at  the  time  when  the  ques- 
tion of  secession  was  before  the  people  of  Arkansas,  he 
had  issued  a  pamphlet,  entitled,  State  or  Province, 
Bond  or  Free,  described  by  a  contemporary  as,  "a  most 
specious  argument  for  secession,  but  a  re-production  of 
the  political  heresies,  that  thirty  years  ago  called  down 
on  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  anathema  maranatha  of  An- 
drew Jackson."224  To  the  men  of  his  time,  it  seemed 
all  the  more  astonishing  that  Albert  Pike  should  take 
such  a  pronounced  stand  on  the  subject  of  state  rights, 
not  because  he  was  a  New  Englander  by  birth,  for  there 
were  many  such  in  Arkansas  and  in  the  ranks  of  the  se- 
cessionists, but  because  he  was  the  author  of  that  stirring 
poem  against  the  idea  of  national  disintegration,  pub- 
lished some  time  before  under  the  title  of,  "Dis- 


union."225 


223  See  Journal  of  Proceedings,  no.  273  of  Johns  Hopkins  University  Civil 
War  Pamphlets. 

224  Bishop,  Loyalty  on  the  Frontier,  148-151. 

225  Tne  poem  is  printed  entire  in  Bishop's  Loyalty  on  the  Frontier,  149-150. 
The  first  two  stanzas  are  here  given: 

DISUNION 

Ay,  shout!     'Tis  the  day  of  your  pride, 

Ye  despots  and  tyrants  of  earth; 
Tell  your  serfs  the  American  name  to  deride, 

And  to  rattle  their  fetters  in  mirth. 
Ay,  shout!  for  the  league  of  the  free 

Is  about  to  be  shivered  to  dust, 
And  the  rent  limbs  to  fall  from  the  vigorous  tree, 
Shout!  shout!  for  more  firmly  established,  will  be 
Your  thrones  and  dominions  beyond  the  blue  sea. 

Laugh  on!  for  such  folly  supreme, 

The  world  has  yet  never  beheld ; 
And  ages  to  come  will  the  history  deem, 

A  tale  by  antiquity  swelled  ; 
For  nothing  that  time  has  upbuilt 

And  set  in  the  annals  of  crime, 


134     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

On  the  twentieth  of  May,  Pike  wrote226  again  to 
Toombs  and  by  that  time  he  certainly  knew227  of  his 
commission  to  treat  with  the  Indian  tribes,  but  had 
apparently  not  received  any  very  definite  instructions 
as  to  the  scope  of  his  authority.  One  little  passage  in 
the  letter  brings  out  very  clearly  the  essential  fair- 
mindedness  of  the  man,  a  marked  characteristic  in  all228 

So  stupid  and  senseless,  so  wretched  in  guilt, 

Darkens  sober  tradition  or  rhyme. 
//  will  be  like  the  fable  of  Eblis'  fall, 
A  by-taord  of  mockery  and  horror  to  all. 

226  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  580-581. 

227  In  a  letter  to  Commissioner  D.  N.  Cooley,  under  date  of  February  17, 
1866,  Pike  said  that  Toombs  requested  him  in  May  of  1861  to  visit  the  Indian 
country  as  commissioner.     I  have   not  been  able  to  find  out  whether  Toombs 
made  his  request  in  writing  or  verbally.     The  correspondence  of  Toombs  re- 
cently edited  by  U.  B.  Phillips  does  not  furnish  any  additional  information  on 
this  point. 

228  On  one  very  important  occasion,  Albert  Pike  was  not  strictly  fair  to  the 
Indians.    That  occasion    was  after  the  war  when  the   United  States  Indian 
Office  was  endeavoring  to  make  a  settlement  with  the  Cherokees  on  the  basis  of 
their  adherence  to  the  Confederate  cause.     Pike  was   appealed  to  and  threw 
the  weight  of  his  influence  against  John  Ross,  but  most  unjustly  as  it  would 
seem.     The  letter  embodying  his  views  is  a  narrative  of  the  events  of  1861  as 
they  happened  in  the  Indian  country  under  his  scrutiny,  and  may  as  well  be 
inserted  here  in  full.     It  is  to  be  found  in  the  Indian  Office  in  a  bundle  la- 
beled, "Loyalty  of  John  Ross,   Principal   Chief  of  the  Cherokees:     Letter  of 
Albert  Pike  (original),  Feb.  17,  1866 -and  Copies  of  several  of  Ross'  letters - 
relative  to  his  loyalty  in  1861  &  1862,  etc." 

5.     Albert  Pike  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 

MEMPHIS,  TENNESSEE,  i7th  February  1866. 

SIR:  I  have  received,  to-day,  a  copy  of  the  "Memorial"  of  the 
"Southern  Cherokees,"  to  the  President,  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  reply  to  the  Memorial  of  other  Cherokees  claiming  to  be  "loyal." 

It  is  not  for  me  to  take  any  part  in  the  controversy  between  the  two 
portions  of  the  Cherokee  People,  nor  have  I  any  interest  that  could  lead 
me  to  side  with  one  in  preference  to  the  other.  Nor  am  I  much  in- 
clined, having  none  of  the  rights  of  a  Citizen,  to  offer  to  testify  in  any 
matter,  when  my  testimoney  may  not  be  deemed  worthy  of  credit,  as 
that  of  one  not  yet  restored  to  respectability  and  creditability  by  a  pardon. 

But,  as  I  know  it  to  be  contemptible  as  well  as  false,  for  Mr.  John 
Ross  and  the  "loyal"  Memorialists  to  pretend  that  they  did  not  volun- 
tarily engage  themselves  by  Treaty  Stipulations  to  the  Confederate 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  135 

his  dealings  with  the  Indians,  but  at  once  his  strength 

States,  and  as  you  have  desired  my  testimony,  I  have  this  to  say,  and  I 
think  no  man  will  be  bold  enough  to  deny  any  part  of  it. 

In  May,  1861,  I  was  requested  by  Mr.  Toombs,  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  Confederate  States,  to  visit  the  Indian  Country  as  Commissioner, 
and  assure  the  Indians  of  the  friendship  of  those  States.  The  Conven- 
tion of  the  State  of  Arkansas,  anxious  to  avoid  hostilities  with  the 
Cherokees,  also  applied  to  me  to  act  as  such  Commissioner.  I  accord- 
ingly proceeded  to  Fort  Smith,  where  some  five  or  six  Cherokees  called 
upon  General  McCulloch  and  myself,  representing  those  of  the  Chero- 
kees who  sympathized  with  the  South,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the 
Confederate  States  would  protect  them  against  Mr.  Ross  and  the  Pin 
Indians,  if  they  should  organize  and  take  up  arms  for  the  South.  We 
learned  that  some  attempts  to  raise  a  Secession  flag  in  the  Cherokee 
Country  on  the  Arkansas  had  been  frustrated  by  the  menace  of  violence ; 
and  those  who  came  to  meet  us  represented  the  Pin  Organization  to  be  a 
Secret  Society,  established  by  Evan  Jones,  a  Missionary,  and  at  the 
service  of  Mr.  John  Ross,  for  the  purpose  of  abolitionizing  the  Chero- 
kees and  putting  out  of  the  way  all  who  sympathized  with  the  Southern 
States. 

The  truth  was,  as  I  afterwards  learned  with  certainty,  the  Secret 
Organization  in  question,  whose  members  for  a  time  used  as  a  mark  of 
their  membership  a  pin  in  the  front  of  the  hunting  shirt,  was  really 
established  for  the  purpose  of  depriving  the  half-breeds  of  all  political 
power,  though  Mr.  Ross,  himself  a  Scotchman  and  a  McDonald  by  the 
father  and  the  mother,  was  shrewd  enough  to  use  it  for  his  own  ends. 
At  any  rate,  it  was  organized  and  in  full  operation,  long  before  Seces- 
sion was  thought  of. 

General  McCulloch  and  myself  assured  those  who  met  us  at  Fort 
Smith,  that  they  should  be  protected;  and  agreed  to  meet,  at  an  early 
day  then  fixed,  at  Park  Hill,  where  Mr.  Ross  resided.  Upon  that  I  sent 
a  messenger  with  letters  to  five  or  six  prominent  members  of  the  Anti- 
Ross  party,  inviting  them  to  meet  me  at  the  Creek  Agency,  two  days 
after  the  day  on  which  General  McCulloch  and  I  were  to  meet  at  Park 
Hill. 

I  did  not  expect  to  effect  any  arrangement  with  Mr.  Ross,  and  my 
intention  was  to  treat  with  the  heads  of  the  Southern  party,  Stand  Wade 
and  others. 

When  we  met  Mr.  Ross  at  Park  Hill,  he  refused  to  enter  into  any 
arrangement  with  the  Confederate  States.  He  said  that  his  intention 
was  to  maintain  the  neutrality  of  his  people;  that  they  were  a  small  and 
weak  people,  and  would  be  ruined  and  destroyed  if  they  engaged  in  the 
war;  and  that  it  would  be  a  cruel  thing  if  we  were  to  engage  them  in 
our  quarrel.  But,  he  said,  all  his  interests  and  all  his  feelings  were 
with  us,  and  he  knew  that  his  people  must  share  the  fate  and  fortunes 
of  Arkansas.  We  told  him  that  the  Cherokees  could  not  be  neutral. 


136     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and  his  weakness.     He  succeeded  with  the  red  man  for 


We  used  every  argument  in  our  power  to  change  his  determination,  but 
in  vain;  and  finally  General  McCulloch  informed  him  that  he  would 
respect  the  neutrality  of  the  Cherokees,  and  would  not  enter  their 
Country  with  troops,  or  place  troops  in  it,  unless  it  should  become  neces- 
sary in  order  to  expel  a  Federal  force,  or  to  protect  the  Southern  Chero- 
kees. 

So  we  separated.  General  McCulloch  kept  his  word,  and  no  Con- 
federate troops  ever  were  stationed  in  or  marched  into  the  Cherokee 
Country,  until  after  the  Federal  troops  invaded  it. 

Before  leaving  the  Nation  I  addressed  Mr.  Ross  a  letter,  which  I 
afterwards  printed,  and  circulated  among  the  Cherokee  people.  In  it  I 
informed  him  that  the  Confederate  States  would  remain  content  with 
his  pledge  of  neutrality,  although  he  would  find  it  impossible  to  main- 
tain that  neutrality;  that  I  should  not  again  offer  to  treat  with  the 
Cherokees,  and  that  the  Confederate  States  would  not  consider  them- 
selves bound  by  my  proposition  to  pay  the  Cherokees  for  the  neutral 
land,  if  they  should  lose  it  in  consequence  of  the  war.  I  had  no  further 
communication  with  Mr.  Ross  until  September. 

Meanwhile,  he  had  persuaded  Opoth  le  Yahola,  the  Creek  leader,  not 
to  join  the  Southern  States,  and  had  sent  delegates  to  meet  the  Northern 
and  other  Indians  in  Council  near  the  Antelope  Hills,  where  they  all 
agreed  to  be  neutral.  The  purpose  was,  to  take  advantage  of  the  war 
between  the  States,  and  form  a  great  independent  Indian  Confedera- 
tion - 1  defeated  all  that,  by  treating  with  the  Creeks  at  the  very  time 
that  their  delegates  were  at  the  Antelope  Hills  in  Council. 

When  I  had  treated  with  them  and  with  the  Choctaws  and  Chicka- 
saws,  at  the  North  Fork  of  the  Canadian,  I  went  to  the  Seminole  Agency 
and  treated  with  the  Seminoles.  Then  I  went  to  the  Wichita  Agency, 
having  previously  invited  the  Reserve  Indians  to  return  there,  and  in- 
vited the  prairie  Comanches  to  meet  me.  After  treating  with  these,  I 
returned  by  Fort  Arbuckle,  and  before  reaching  there,  met  a  nephew  of 
Mr.  Ross,  and  a  Captain  [Keld?  sic]  in  the  prairie,  bearing  a  letter  to 
me  from  Mr.  Ross  and  his  Council,  with  a  copy  of  the  resolutions  of 
Council,  and  an  invitation  in  pressing  terms  to  repair  to  the  Cherokee 
Country  and  enter  into  a  Treaty. 

I  consented,  fixed  a  day  for  meeting  the  Cherokees,  and  wrote  Mr. 
Ross  to  that  effect,  requesting  him  also  to  send  messengers  to  the  Osages, 
Quapaws,  Shawnees,  Senecas,  &c.  and  invite  them  to  meet  me  at  the 
same  time.  He  did  so,  and  at  the  time  fixed  I  went  to  Park  Hill,  and 
there  effected  Treaties. 

When  I  first  entered  the  Indian  Country,  in  May,  I  had  as  an  escort 
one  company  of  mounted  men.  I  went  in  advance  of  them  to  Park  Hill; 
General  McCulloch  went  there  without  an  escort.  At  the  Creek  Agency 
I  sent  the  Company  back:  I  then  remained  without  escort  or  guard, 
until  I  had  made  the  Seminole  Treaty,  camping  with  my  little  party  and 
displaying  the  Confederate  flag.  When  I  went  to  the  Wichita  Country, 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  137 

the  very  same  reason  that  he  failed  with  the  white,  be- 

I  took  an  escort  of  Creeks  and  Seminoles.  These  I  discharged  at  Fort 
Arbuckle  on  my  return,  and  went,  accompanied  only  by  four  young  men, 
through  the  Creek  Country  to  Fort  Gibson,  refusing  an  escort  of  Creeks 
offered  me  on  the  way. 

From  Fort  Gibson  eight  or  nine  companies  of  Colonel  Drew's  Regi- 
ment of  Cherokees,  chiefly  full-bloods  and  Pins,  escorted  me  to  Park 
Hill.  This  regiment  was  raised  by  order  of  the  National  Council,  and 
its  officers  appointed  by  Mr  Ross,  his  nephew  William  P.  Ross,  Secretary 
of  the  Nation,  being  Lieut.  Colonel,  and  Thomas  Pegg,  President  of  the 
National  Committee,  being  its  Major. 

I  encamped,  with  my  little  party  near  the  residence  of  the  Chief,  un- 
protected even  by  a  guard,  and  with  the  Confederate  flag  flying.  The 
terms  of  the  Treaty  were  fully  discussed  and  the  Cherokee  authorities 
dealt  with  me  on  equal  terms.  Mr.  John  Ross  had  met  me  as  I  was  on 
my  way  to  Park  Hill,  escorted  by  the  National  Regiment,  and  had 
welcomed  me  to  the  Cherokee  Nation,  in  an  earnest  and  enthusiastic 
speech ;  and  seemed  to  me  throughout  to  be  acting  in  perfect  good  faith. 
I  acted  in  the  same  way  with  him, 

After  the  treaties  were  signed,  I  presented  Colonel  Drew's  Regiment 
a  flag,  and  the  chief  in  a  speech  exhorted  them  to  be  true  to  it:  and 
afterwards,  at  his  request,  I  wrote  the  Cherokee  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence which  is  printed  with  the  Memorial  of  the  Southern  Chero- 
kees. I  no  more  doubted,  then,  that  Mr.  Ross'  whole  heart  was  with 
the  South,  than  that  mine  was.  Even  in  May  he  said  to  General  McCul- 
loch  and  myself,  that  if  Northern  troops  invaded  the  Cherokee  Country, 
he  would  head  the  Cherokees  and  drive  them  back.  "I  have  borne 
arms"  he  said,  "and  though  I  am  old  I  can  do  it  again." 

At  the  time  of  the  treaty  there  were  about  nine  hundred  Cherokees 
of  Colonel  Drew's  Regiment  encamped  near,  and  fed  by  me,  and  Colonel 
Watie,  who  had  almost  abandoned  the  idea  of  raising  a  regiment,  had 
a  small  body  of  men,  not  more,  I  think,  than  eighty  or  ninety,  at  Tahle- 
quah.  When  the  flag  was  presented,  Col.  Watie  was  present,  and  after 
the  ceremony  the  chief  shook  hands  with  him  and  expressed  his  warm 
desire  for  union  and  harmony  in  the  Nation. 

The  gentlemen  whom  I  had  invited  to  meet  me  in  June  at  the 
Creek  Agency  did  not  do  so.  They  were  afraid  of  being  murdered, 
they  said,  if  they  openly  sided  with  the  South.  In  October  they  cen- 
sured me  for  treating  with  Mr.  Ross,  and  were  in  an  ill  humour,  saying 
that  the  regiment  was  raised  in  order  to  be  used  to  oppress  them. 

The  same  day  that  the  Cherokee  Treaty  was  signed,  the  Osages, 
Quapaws,  Shawnees  and  Senecas  signed  treaties,  and  the  next  day  they 
had  a  talk  with  Mr.  Ross  at  his  residence,  smoked  the  great  pipe  and 
renewed  their  alliance,  being  urged  by  him  to  be  true  to  the  Confed- 
erate States. 

I  protest  that  I  believed  Mr.  John  Ross,  at  this  time  and  for  long 
after,  to  be  as  sincerely  devoted  to  the  Confederacy  as  I  myself  was. 


138     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 
cause  he  gave  to  the  Indians  the  consideration  and  the 

He  was  frank,  cheerful,  earnest,  and  evidently  believed  that  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Confederate  States  was  an  accomplished  fact.  I  should 
dishonour  him  if  I  believed  that  he  then  dreamed  of  abandoning  the 
Confederacy  or  turning  the  arms  of  the  Cherokees  against  us  in  case  of 
a  reverse.  . 

Before  I  left  the  Cherokee  Country,  part  of  the  Creeks,  under  Opoth- 
le-Yaholo  left  their  homes,  under  arms  and  threatened  hostilities.  Mr. 
Ross,  at  my  request,  invited  the  old  Chief  to  meet  him,  and  urged  him 
to  unite  with  the  Confederate  States.  Colonel  Drew's  regiment  was 
ordered  into  the  Creek  Country,  and  afterwards,  on  the  eve  of  the  action 
at  Bird  Creek,  abandoned  Colonel  Cooper,  rather  than  fight  against 
their  neighbours.  But  after  the  action,  the  regiment  was  again  reor- 
ganized. The  men  were  eager  to  fight,  they  said,  against  the  Yankees ; 
but  did  not  wish  to  fight  their  own  brethren,  the  Creeks. 

When  General  Curtis  entered  North  Western  Arkansas,  in  February 
1862,  I  sent  orders  from  Fort  Smith  to  Colonel  Drew  to  move  towards 
Evansville  and  receive  orders  from  General  McCulloch.  Colonel  Watie's 
Regiment  was  already  under  General  McCulloch's  command.  Colonel 
Drew's  men  moved  in  advance  of  Colonel  Watie,  with  great  alacrity, 
and  showed  no  want  of  zeal  at  Pea  Ridge. 

I  do  not  know  that  any  one  was  scalped  at  that  place  or  in  that  ac- 
tion, except  from  information.  None  of  my  officers  knew  it  at  the  time. 
I  heard  of  it  afterwards.  I  cannot  say  to  which  regiment  those  belonged 
who  did  it.  But  it  has  been  publicly  charged  on  some  of  the  same  men 
who  afterwards  abandoned  the  Confederate  cause  and  enlisting  in  the 
Federal  Service  were  sent  into  Arkansas  to  ravage  it. 

After  the  actions  at  Pea  Ridge  and  Elk  Horn,  the  Regiment  of 
Colonel  Drew  was  moved  to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  where  I  was  able, 
after  a  time,  to  pay  them  $25  cash,  the  commutation  for  six  months' 
clothing,  in  Confederate  money.  Nothing  more,  owing  to  the  wretched 
management  of  the  Confederate  government,  was  ever  paid  them;  and 
the  clothing  procured  for  them  was  plundered  by  the  commands  of  Gen- 
erals Price  and  Van  Dorn.  The  consequence  was  that  when  Colonel 
Weer  entered  the  Cherokee  Country,  the  Pin  Indians  joined  him  en 
masse. 

I  had  procured  at  Richmond,  and  paid  Mr.  Lewis  Ross,  Treasurer  of 
the  Cherokee  Nation,  about  the  first  of  March  1862,  in  the  Chief's  house 
and  in  the  Chief's  presence,  the  moneys  agreed  to  be  paid  them  by 
Treaty,  being  about  $70,000  (I  think)  in  coin,  and  among  other  sums 
$150,000  in  Confederate  Treasury  notes,  loaned  the  Nation  by  way  of 
advance  on  the  price  expected  to  be  paid  for  the  Neutral  land.  This 
sum  had  been  promised  in  the  Treaty  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  Mr. 
John  Ross;  and  it  was  generally  understood  that  it  was  desired  for  the 
special  purpose  of  redeeming  scrip  of  the  Nation  issued  long  before,  and 
much  of  which  was  held  by  Mr.  Ross  and  his  relatives.  That  such  was 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  139 

justice  which  were  their  due.     This  is  the  significant 

the  case,  I  do  not  know.  I  only  know  that  the  moneys  were  paid,  and 
that  I  have  the  receipts  for  them,  which,  with  others,  I  shall  file  in  the 
Indian  Office. 

In  May,  1862,  Lieut.  Colonel  William  P.  Ross  visited  my  camp  at 
Fort  McCulloch,  near  Red  River,  and  said  to  me  that  "the  Chief"  would 
be  gratified  if  he  were  to  receive  the  appointment  of  Brigadier  General 
in  the  Confederate  Service.  I  did  not  ask  him  if  he  was  authorized  by 
the  Chief  to  say  so ;  but  I  did  ask  him  if  he  were  sure  that  the  appoint- 
ment would  gratify  him;  and  being  so  assured,  I  promised  to  urge  the 
appointment.  I  did  so,  more  than  once,  but  never  received  a  reply.  It 
was  not  customary  with  the  Confederate  War  Department  to  exhibit 
any  great  wisdom ;  and  in  respect  to  the  Indian  Country  its  conduct  was 
disgraceful.  Unpaid,  unclothed,  uncared  for,  unthanked  even,  and  their 
services  unrecognized,  it  was  natural  the  Cherokees  should  abandon  the 
Confederate  flag. 

When  Colonel  Weer  invaded  the  Cherokee  Country,  Mr.  Ross  re- 
fused to  have  an  interview  with  him,  declaring  that  the  Cherokees  would 
remain  faithful  to  their  engagements  with  the  Confederate  States.  There 
was  not  then  a  Confederate  soldier  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  to  overawe 
Mr.  Ross  or  Major  Pegg  or  any  other  "loyal"  Cherokee.  Mr.  Ross  sent 
me  a  copy  of  his  letter  to  Colonel  Weer,  and  I  had  it  printed  and  sent 
over  Texas,  to  show  the  people  there  that  the  Cherokee  Chief  was 
"loyal"  to  the  Confederate  States. 

Afterwards,  when  Stand  Watie's  Regiment  and  the  Choctaws  were 
sent  over  the  Arkansas  into  the  Cherokee  Country,  and  Mr.  Ross  consid- 
ered his  life  in  danger  from  his  own  people,  in  consequence  of  their 
ancient  feud,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  taken  prisoner  by  the  Federal 
troops.  At  the  time,  I  believed  that  if  white  troops  had  been  sent  to 
Park  Hill,  who  would  have  protected  him  against  Watie's  men,  he  would 
have  remained  at  home  and  adhered  to  the  Confederacy:  for  either  he 
was  true  to  his  obligations  to  the  Confederate  States,  voluntarily  entered 
into,  -  true  at  heart  and  in  his  inmost  soul,  -  or  else  he  is  falser  and  more 
treacherous  than  I  can  believe  him  to  be. 

The  simple  truth  is,  Mr.  Commissioner,  that  the  "loyal"  Cherokees 
hated  Stand  Watie  and  the  half-breeds  and  were  hated  by  them.  They 
were  perfectly  willing  to  kill  and  scalp  Yankees,  and  when  they  were 
hired  to  change  sides,  and  twenty  two  hundred  of  them  were  organized 
into  regiments  in  the  Federal  Service,  they  were  just  as  ready  to  kill  and 
scalp  when  employed  against  us  in  Arkansas.  We  did  not  pay  and 
clothe  them,  and  the  United  States  did.  They  scalped  for  those  who 
paid,  for  and  clothed  them.  As  to  "loyalty"  they  had  none  at  all. 

I  entered  the  Indian  Country  in  May,  and  left  it  in  October.  For 
five  months  I  travelled  and  encamped  in  it,  unprotected  by  white  troops, 
alone  with  the  four  young  men,  treating  with  the  different  tribes.  If 
there  had  been  any  "loyalty"  among  the  Indians,  I  could  not  have  gone 


140     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 
passage  from  his  letter  to  Toombs  :229 

a  mile  in  safety.  Opoth-le-Yaholo  was  not  "loyal."  He  feared  the 
Mclntoshes,  who  had  raised  troops,  and  who,  he  thought,  meant  to  kill 
him  for  killing  their  father  long  years  before.  He  told  me  that  he  did 
not  wish  to  fight  against  the  Southern  States,  but  only  that  the  Indians 
should  all  act  together.  If  Mr.  Ross  had  treated  with  us  at  first,  all  the 
Creeks  would  have  done  the  same.  If  Stand  Watie  and  his  party  took 
one  side,  John  Ross  and  his  party  were  sure,  in  the  end,  to  take  the 
other,  especially  when  that  other  proved  itself  the  stronger. 

So  far  from  the  Watie  party  overawing  the  party  which  upheld  Mr. 
Ross,  I  know  it  to  be  true  that  they  were  afraid  to  actively  cooperate 
with  the  Confederate  States,  to  organize,  to  raise  Secession  flags,  or  even 
to  meet  me  and  consult  with  me.  They  feared  that  Colonel  Drew's 
Regiment  would  be  used  to  harrass  them,  and  they  never  dreamed  of 
forcing  the  authorities  into  a  Treaty. 

After  the  action  at  Elkhorn,  murders  were  continually  complained  of 
by  Colonels  Watie  and  Drew,  and  the  Chief  solicited  me  to  place  part 
of  Colonel  Drew's  Regiment  at  or  near  Park  Hill,  to  protect  the  govern- 
ment and  its  records.  I  did  so.  There  never  was  a  time  when  the 
"loyal"  Cherokees  had  not  the  power  to  destroy  the  Southern  ones. 

As  to  myself,  I  dealt  fairly  and  openly  with  all  the  Indians.  I  used 
no  threats  of  force  or  compulsion,  with  any  of  them.  The  "loyal" 
Cherokees  joined  us  because  they  believed  we  should  succeed,  and  left 
us  when  they  thought  we  should  not.  At  their  request  I  wrote  their 
declaration  of  Independence  and  acceptance  of  the  issues  of  war;  and  if 
any  men  voluntarily,  and  with  their  eyes  open,  and  of  their  own  motion 
acceded  to  the  Secession  movement,  it  was  John  Ross  and  the  people 
whom  he  controlled.  I  am,  Sir,  Very  resPy,  Your  obt  Svt 

ALBERT  PIKE 
D.  N.  Cooley  Esq,  Commissioner  of  Ind.  Aff. 

229  In  writing  this  letter,  Pike  most  certainly  addressed  himself  to  Toombs 
officially  and  with  the  idea  in  mind  that  he  was  holding  his  commission  under 
the  Confederate  State  Department.  That  he  was  serving  under  that  depart- 
ment and  that  he  did  not  get  his  appointment  until  May  seem  scarcely  to  admit 
of  a  doubt,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  Secretary  of  War 
later  in  the  year,  December  [14?],  1861,  in  reporting  to  President  Davis,  could 
make  the  following  statement: 

At  the  first  session  of  the  Congress  an  act  was  passed  providing  for 
the  sending  of  a  commissioner  to  the  Indian  tribes  north  of  Texas  and 
west  of  Arkansas,  with  the  view  of  making  such  arrangements  for  an 
alliance  with  and  the  protection  of  the  Indians  as  were  rendered  neces- 
sary by  the  disruption  of  the  Union  and  our  natural  succession  to  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  United  States,  so  far  as  these  Indians  were 
concerned.  The  supervision  of  this  important  branch  of  administrative 
duty  was  confided  to  the  State  Department,  by  which  Brig.-Gen.  Albert 
Pike  was  selected  as  commissioner.  At  a  later  period  of  the  same  ses- 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  141 

I  very  much  regret  that  I  have  not  received  distinct  authority 
to  give  the  Indians  guarantees  of  all  their  legal  and  just  rights 
under  treaties.  It  cannot  be  expected  they  will  join  us  without 
them,  and  it  would  be  very  ungenerous,  as  well  as  unwise  and 
useless,  in  me  to  ask  them  to  do  it.  Why  should  they,  if  we 
will  not  bind  ourselves  to  give  them  what  they  hazard  in  giving 
us  their  rights  under  treaties? 

As  you  have  told  me  to  act  at  my  discretion,  and  as  I  am  not 
directed  not  to  give  the  guarantees,  I  shall  give  them,  formal, 
full,  and  ample,  by  treaty,  if  the  Indians  will  accept  them  and 
make  treaties.  General  McCulloch  will  join  me  in  this,  and 
so,  I  hope  and  suppose,  will  Mr.  Hubbard,  and  when  we  shall 
have  done  so  we  shall,  I  am  sure,  not  look  in  vain  to  you,  at 
least,  to  affirm  these  guarantees  and  insist  they  shall  be  carried 
out  in  good  faith. 

There  was  an  implied  doubt  of  Hubbard  in  Pike's 
reference  to  him  and  a  single  future  declaration  almost 
justified  the  doubt,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
Hubbard  was  supposed  to  have  been  chosen  as  commis- 
sioner of  Indian  affairs  because  of  his  "well  known 
sympathy  for  the  Indian  tribes  and  the  deep  concern" 
he  had  ever  "manifested  in  their  welfare."  Hubbard's 


sion  a  Bureau   of  Indian  Affairs  was  created  by  law  and  attached   to 
this  Department,  charged  with  the  management  of  our  relations  with 
the  Indian  tribes.     .     .-Official  Records,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  792. 
Now,  if  Benjamin  was  correct  in  his  chronology,  the  appointment  of  Pike 
must  have  antedated  that  of  Hubbard,  a  very  unlikely  state  of  affairs  unless, 
indeed,  the  Confederate  government  from  the  start,  taking  cognizance  of  the 
very  advanced  condition  of  the  Indians  under  discussion  and  of  the  very  ex- 
treme delicacy  of  the  situation,  concluded  it  would  be  wisest  to  act  upon  the 
assumption  that  the  great  tribes  were  independent  enough  to  be  dealt  with  al- 
most as  foreign  powers  and  so   left  everything  to  the  discretion  of  the  State 
Department. 

In  November,  1861,  the  Provisional  Congress  considered  the  advisability 
of  transferring  the  whole  Indian  Bureau  to  the  Department  of  State  [Journal, 
November  28,  1861,  vol.  i,  489].  The  transfer  was  probably  suggested  by  the 
fact  that  the  relations  to  date  of  the  Confederate  States  with  the  Indians  had 
been  conducted  altogether  upon  a  basis  of  diplomacy.  An  added  reason  might 
have  been,  that  the  ordinary  business  of  the  War  Department  was  sufficiently 
onerous  without  the  details  of  Indian  complications  being  made  a  part  of  it. 
Yet  the  transfer  was  never  made. 


142     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

official  position  was  that  of  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs;  but  the  unorganized  character  of  the  Confed- 
erate administration  in  early  1861  is  well  attested  by 
the  way  Secretary  Walker  confounded  the  name  and 
functions  of  that  office  with  those  of  an  ordinary  super- 
intendent. On  the  fourteenth  of  May,  he  addressed 
Hubbard  as  "Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs"  and 
instructed  him 

To  proceed  to  the  Creek  Nation,  and  to  make  known  to  them,  as 
well  as  to  the  rest  of  the  tribes  west  of  Arkansas  and  south  of 
Kansas  .  .  .  the  earnest  desire  of  the  Confederate  States  to 
defend  and  protect  them  against  the  rapacious  and  avaricious 
designs  of  their  and  our  enemies  at  the  North.  .  .  You  will, 
in  an  especial  manner,  impress  upon  the  Creek  Nation  and  sur- 
rounding Indian  tribes  the  imperious  fact  that  they  will  doubt- 
less recognize,  that  the  real  design  of  the  North  and  the  Gov- 
ernment at  Washington  in  regard  to  them  has  been  and  still  is 
the  same  entertained  and  sought  to  be  enforced  against  ourselves, 
and  if  suffered  to  be  consummated,  will  terminate  in  the  emanci- 
pation of  their  slaves  and  the  robbery  of  their  lands.  To  these 
nefarious  ends  all  the  schemes  of  the  North  have  tended  for 
many  years  past,  as  the  Indian  nations  and  tribes  well  know 
from  the  character  and  conduct  of  those  emissaries  who  have 
been  in  their  midst,  preaching  up  abolition  sentiments  under  the 
disguise  of  the  holy  religion  of  Christ,  and  denouncing  slave- 
holders as  abandoned  by  God  and  unfit  associates  for  humanity 
on  earth. 

You  will  be  diligent  to  explain  to  them,  under  these  circum- 
stances, how  their  cause  has  become  our  cause,  and  themselves 
and  ourselves  stand  inseparably  associated  in  respect  to  national 
existence  and  property  interests;  and  in  view  of  this  identifica- 
tion of  cause  and  interests  between  them  and  ourselves,  entailing 
a  common  destiny,  give  to  them  profound  assurances  that  the 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  now  power- 
fully constituted  through  an  immense  league  of  sovereign  polit- 
ical societies,  great  forces  in  the  field,  and  abundant  resources, 
will  assume  all  the  expense  and  responsibility  of  protecting  them 
against  all  adversaries. 

Give  them  to  understand,  in  this  connection,  that  a  brigadier- 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  143 

general  of  character  and  experience  has  been  assigned  to  the  mil- 
itary district  embracing  the  Indian  Territories  south  of  Kansas, 
with  three  regiments  under  his  command,  while  in  Texas  an- 
other military  district  has  been  formed.  .  . 

In  addition  to  these  things,  regarded  of  primary  importance, 
you  will,  without  committing  the  Government  to  any  especial 
conduct,  express  our  serious  anxiety  to  establish  and  enforce  the 
debts  and  annuities  due  to  them  from  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington, which  otherwise  they  will  never  obtain,  as  that  Govern- 
ment would,  undoubtedly,  sooner  rob  them  of  their  lands,  eman- 
cipate their  slaves,  and  utterly  exterminate  them,  than  render 
to  them  justice.  Finally,  communicate  to  them  the  abiding 
solicitude  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  to  advance  their 
condition  in  the  direction  of  a  proud  political  society,  with  a  dis- 
tinctive civilization,  and  holding  lands  in  severally  under  well- 
defined  laws,  by  forming  them  into  a  Territorial  government; 
but  you  will  give  no  assurance  of  State  organization  and  inde- 
pendence, as  they  still  require  the  strong  arm  of  protecting 
power,  and  may  probably  always  need  our  fostering  care;  and, 
so  far  as  the  agents  of  the  late  Government  of  the  United  States 
may  be  concerned,  you  will  converse  with  them,  and  such  of 
them  as  are  willing  to  act  with  you  in  the  policy  herein  set  forth 
you  are  authorized  to  substantiate  in  the  employment  of  this 
Government  at  their  present  compensation.  .  .23° 

Hubbard's  mission  to  the  west  was  quite  inde- 
pendent231 of  Pike's,  although  both  missions  were  un- 
doubtedly part  of  the  one  general  plan  of  securing  as 
quickly,  as  surely,  and  as  easily  as  possible  the  friendly 
cooperation  of  the  Indians.  At  about  the  same  moment 
that  they  were  devised,  the  Confederacy  took  yet  an- 
other means  of  accomplishing  the  same  object  and  one 
referred  to  in  the  letter  of  Secretary  Walker  just 
quoted.  On  the  thirteenth  of  this  same  month  of  May, 
1861,  it  assigned  Brigadier-general  Ben  McCulloch 

230  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  576-578. 

231  Hubbard's  ill-health,  however,  seems  to  have  made  it  incumbent  upon 
Pike  to  assume  much  the  larger  share  of  official  responsibility  and  practically 
to  do  Hubbard's  work  as  well  as  his  own ;  that  is,  so  much  of  it  as  was  not 
transacted  in  Richmond. 


144     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

"to  the  command  of  the  district  embracing  the  Indian 
Territory  lying  west  of  Arkansas  and  south  of  Kansas." 
McCulloch's  orders232  were  "to  guard  that  Territory 
against  invasion  from  Kansas  or  elsewhere,"  and,  for 
the  purpose,  in  addition  to  three  regiments  of  white 
troops,  "to  engage,  if  possible,  the  service  of  any  of  the 
Indian  tribes  occupying  the  Territory  referred  to  in 
numbers  equal  to  two  regiments." 

Hubbard's  part  in  the  prosecution  of  this  great  en- 
deavor may  as  well  be  disposed  of  first.  It  was  of  short 
duration  and  seemingly  barren  of  direct  results.  Hub- 
bard  was  long  in  reaching  the  western  boundary  of  Ar- 
kansas. On  the  way  out  he  was  seized  with  pneumonia 
and  otherwise  delayed  by  wind  and  weather.  On  the 
second  of  June  he  was  still  in  Little  Rock,  apparently 
much  more  interested233  in  the  local  situation  in  Arkan- 
sas than  in  the  real  object  of  his  mission.  His  intention 
was  to  "go  up  the  river  to  Fort  Smith,"  June  third. 
From  that  point,  on  the  twelfth,  he  addressed  the  Chero- 
kee chief,  John  Ross,  and  the  Confederate  general,  Ben 
McCulloch.  The  letter  was  more  particularly  meant 
for  the  former. 

As  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  of  the  Confederate  States 
it  was  my  intention  to  have  called  upon  you  and  consulted  as 
to  the  mutual  interests  of  our  people.  Sickness  has  put  it  out  of 
my  power  to  travel,  and  those  interests  require  immediate  con- 
sideration, and  therefore  I  have  determined  to  write,  and  make 
what  I  think  a  plain  statement  of  the  case  for  your  considera- 
tion, which  I  think  stands  thus:  If  we  succeed  in  the  South - 
succeed  in  this  controversy,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  fact, 
for  we  are  daily  gaining  friends  among  the  powers  of  Europe, 
and  our  people  are  arming  with  unanimity  scarcely  ever  seen  in 
the  world  before  -  then  your  lands,  your  slaves,  and  your  sep- 

232  Adjutant  and  Inspector-General  S.  Cooper  to  McCulloch,  May  13,  1861 
[Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iiS,  575-576]. 

238  Hubbard  to  Walker,  June  2,  1861  [ibid.,  589-590]. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  145 

arate  nationality  are  secured  and  made  perpetual,  and  in  addition 
nearly  all  your  debts  are  in  Southern  bonds,  and  these  we  will 
also  secure.  If  the  North  succeeds  you  will  most  certainly  lose 
all.  First  your  slaves  they  will  take  from  you ;  that  is  one  ob- 
ject of  the  war,  to  enable  them  to  abolish  slavery  in  such  man- 
ner and  at  such  time  as  they  choose.  Another,  and  perhaps  the 
chief  cause,  is  to  get  upon  your  rich  lands  and  settle  their  squat- 
ters, who  do  not  like  to  settle  in  slave  States.  They  will  settle 
upon  your  lands  as  fast  as  they  choose,  and  the  Northern  people 
will  force  their  Government  to  allow  it.  It  is  true  they  will 
allow  your  people  small  reserves  -  they  give  chiefs  pretty  large 
ones  — but  they  will  settle  among  you,  overshadow  you,  and 
totally  destroy  the  power  of  your  chiefs  and  your  nationality, 
and  then  trade  your  people  out  of  the  residue  of  their  lands. 
Go  North  among  the  once  powerful  tribes  of  that  country  and 
see  if  you  can  find  Indians  living  and  enjoying  power  and  prop- 
erty and  liberty  as  do  your  people  and  the  neighboring  tribes 
from  the  South.  If  you  can,  then  say  I  am  a  liar,  and  the 
Northern  States  have  been  better  to  the  Indian  than  the  South- 
ern States.  If  you  are  obliged  to  admit  the  truth  of  what  I 
say,  then  join  us  and  preserve  your  people,  their  slaves,  their  vast 
possessions  in  land,  and  their  nationality. 

Another  consideration  is  your  debts,  annuities,  &c.,  school 
funds  due  you.  Nearly  all  are  in  bonds  of  Southern  States  and 
held  by  the  Government  at  Washington,  and  these  debts  are 
nearly  all  forfeited  already  by  the  act  of  war  made  upon  the 
States  by  that  Government.  These  we  will  secure  you  beyond 
question  if  you  join  us.  If  you  join  the  North  they  are  forever 
forfeited,  and  you  will  have  no  right  to  believe  that  the  North- 
ern people  would  vote  to  pay  you  this  forfeited  debt.  Admit 
that  there  may  be  some  danger  take  which  side  you  may,  I  think 
the  danger  tenfold  greater  to  the  Cherokee  people  if  they  take 
sides  against  us  than  for  us.  Neutrality  will  scarcely  be  pos- 
sible. As  long  as  your  people  retain  their  national  character 
your  country  cannot  be  abolitionized,  and  it  is  our  interest  there- 
fore that  you  should  hold  your  possessions  in  perpetuity.234 

The  effect  that  such  a  communication  as  the  forego- 


234  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  xiii,  497-498 ;   General  Files,   Cherokee, 
1859-1865,  €515. 


146     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ing  might  well  have  had  upon  the  Indians  can  scarcely 
be  overestimated.  Time  out  of  number  they  had  been 
over-reached  in  dealings  financial.  Only  the  year  be- 
fore, bonds  in  which  Indian  trust  funds  were  invested 
had  been  abstracted235  from  the  vaults  of  the  Interior 
Department;  and,  for  this  cause  and  other  causes,  In- 
dian money  had  not  been  readily  forthcoming  for  the 
much  needed  relief  of  Indian  sufferers  from  the  fearful 
drought  that  devastated  Indian  Territory,  Kansas,  and 
other  parts  of  the  great  American  desert  in  1860. 

Comment  upon  Hubbard's  letter  from  the  standpoint 
of  historical  inaccuracy  seems  hardly  necessary  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  distortion  of  facts  and  the  shift- 
ing of  responsibility  for  previous  Indian  wrongs  from 
the  shoulders  of  Southern  States  to  those  of  a  federal 
government  made  up  entirely  of  northern  states  must 
have  seemed  preposterous  in  the  extreme  to  the  Indians. 
One  can  not  help  wondering  how  Hubbard  dared  to  say 
such  things  to  the  Indian  exiles  from  Southern  States 
and  particularly  to  John  Ross  who  like  all  of  his  tribe 
and  of  associated  tribes  was  the  victim  of  southern  ag- 
gression and  not  in  any  sense  whatsoever  of  northern. 

To  Hubbard's  gross  amplification  and  even  defiance 
of  his  instructions,  also  to  his  extravagant  utterances 
touching  the  repudiation  of  debts  and  southern  versus 
northern  justice  and  generosity.  Chief  Ross  replied,236 

235  Rhodes,  op.  cit.,  vol.  iii,  237-238 ;  also  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  to 
Investigate  the  Abstraction  of  Bonds  Held  by  the  United  States  Government 
in  Trust  for  Indian  Tribes,  being  House  Report,  36th  congress,  second  session, 
no.  78.     Dole,  in  his  Annual  Report  for  1861,  p.  27,  urged  that  the  government 
make  the  loss  good  to  the  Indians  and  also  appropriate  money  "to  meet  the  un- 
paid interest  on  those  trust  bonds  of  the  revolted  States  yet  in  custody  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior."     There  ought  never,  either  from  the  standpoint  of 
national  faith  or  of  that  of  political  expediency,  to  have  been  any  hesitation  in 
the  matter. 

236  The  entire  letter  is  to  be  found  in  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  xiii, 
498-499;  also  in  General  Files,  Cherokee,  18^-1865,  €515. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  147 

by  way  of  strong  contrast,  in  terms  dignified  and  con- 
vincing: 

It  is  not  the  province  of  the  Cherokees  to  determine  the  char- 
acter of  the  conflict  going  on  in  the  States.  It  is  their  duty  to 
keep  themselves,  if  possible,  disentangled,  and  afford  no  grounds 
to  either  party  to  interfere  with  their  rights.  The  obligations 
of  every  character,  pecuniary  and  otherwise,  which  existed  prior 
to  the  present  state  of  affairs  between  the  Cherokee  Nation  and 
the  Government  are  equally  valid  now  as  then.  If  the  Govern- 
ment owre  us,  I  do  not  believe  it  will  repudiate  its  debts.  If 
States  embraced  in  the  Confederacy  owe  us,  I  do  not  believe 
they  will  repudiate  their  debts.  I  consider  our  annuity  safe  in 
any  contingency. 

A  comparison  of  Northern  and  Southern  philanthropy,  as 
illustrated  in  their  dealings  toward  the  Indians  within  their  re- 
spective limits,  would  not  affect  the  merits  of  the  question  now 
under  consideration,  which  is  simply  one  of  duty  under  existing 
circumstances.  I  therefore  pass  it  over,  merely  remarking  that 
the  "settled  policy"  of  former  years  was  a  favorite  policy  with 
both  sections  when  extended  to  the  acquisition  of  Indian  lands, 
and  that  but  few  Indians  now  press  their  feet  upon  the  banks  of 
either  the  Ohio  or  the  Tennessee.  .  . 

Judging  from  all  the  instructions  that  Secretary  Walk- 
er sent  out  on  Indian  matters  in  May  of  1861,  it  would 
seem  that  he  had  very  much  at  heart  the  enlistment  of 
the  Indians  and  their  actual  participation  in  the  war. 
Mention  has  already  been  made  of  how  General  Mc- 
Culloch  was  told  by  Adjutant-general  Cooper  to  add, 
if  possible,  two  Indian  regiments  to  his  brigade  and  of 
how  Walker  had  written  Hubbard  urging  him  to  per- 
suade the  Indians  to  join  forces  and  raising  the  number 
of  Indian  regiments  desired  from  two  to  three.  In  a 
similar  strain  Walker  wrote237  to  Douglas  H.  Cooper 

237  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  C.S.  ARMY,  MONTGOMERY,  May  13,  1861. 

MAJOR  DOUGLAS  H.  COOPER,  Choctaw  Nation: 

Sir:  The  desire  of  this  Government  is  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly 
relations  and  the  closest  alliance  with  the  Choctaw  Nation  and  all  the 


148     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

on  the  occasion  of  definitely  asking  him  to  give  his  ser- 
vices to  the  South.  In  all  these  letters  no  special  stress 
was  laid  upon  an  intention  to  use  the  Indians  as  home 
guards  exclusively.  On  the  contrary,  one  might  easily 
draw,  from  the  letters,  a  quite  opposite  inference  and 

Indian  tribes  west  of  Arkansas  and  south  of  Kansas.  Appreciating 
your  sympathies  with  these  tribes,  and  their  reciprocal  regard  for  you, 
we  have  thought  it  advisable  to  enlist  your  services  in  the  line  of  this 
desire.  From  information  in  possession  of  the  Government  it  is  deemed 
expedient  to  take  measures  to  secure  the  protection  of  these  tribes  in 
their  present  country  from  the  agrarian  rapacity  of  the  North,  that,  un- 
less opposed,  must  soon  drive  them  from  their  homes  and  supplant  them 
in  their  possessions,  as,  indeed,  would  have  been  the  case  with  the  en- 
tire South  but  for  our  present  efforts  at  resistance.  It  is  well  known 
that  with  these  unjust  designs  against  the  Indian  country  the  Northern 
movement  for  several  years  has  had  its  emissaries  scheming  among  the 
tribes  for  their  ultimate  destruction.  Their  destiny  has  thus  become  our 
own,  and  common  with  that  of  all  the  Southern  States  entering  this 
Confederation. 

Entertaining  these  views  and  feelings,  and  with  these  objects  before 
us,  we  have  commissioned  General  Ben.  McCulloch,  with  three  regi- 
ments under  his  command,  from  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Texas,  and 
Louisiana,  to  take  charge  of  the  military  district  embracing  the  Indian 
country,  and  I  now  empower  you  to  raise  among  the  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws  a  mounted  regiment,  to  be  commanded  by  yourself,  in  co- 
operation with  General  McCulloch.  It  is  designed  also  to  raise  two 
other  similar  regiments  among  the  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Seminoles,  and 
other  friendly  tribes  for  the  same  purpose.  This  combined  force  of  six 
regiments  will  be  ample  to  secure  the  frontiers  upon  Kansas  and  the  in- 
terests of  the  Indians,  while  to  the  south  of  the  Red  River  three  regi- 
ments from  Texas,  under  a  different  command,  have  been  already  as- 
signed to  the  Rio  Grande  and  western  border. 

It  will  thus  appear,  I  trust,  that  the  resources  of  this  Government  are 
adequate  to  its  ends,  and  assured  to  the  friendly  Indians.  We  have  our 
agents  actively  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  ammunition  and  in  the 
purchase  of  arms,  and  when  your  regiment  has  been  reported  organized 
in  ten  companies,  ranging  from  64  to  100  men  each,  and  enrolled  for 
twelve  months,  if  possible,  it  will  be  received  into  the  Confederate 
service,  and  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition.  Such  will  be  the 
course  pursued  also  in  relation  to  the  two  other  regiments  I  have  in- 
dicated. 

The  arms  we  are  purchasing  for  the  Indians  are  rifles,  and  they  will 
be  forwarded  to  Fort  Smith.  Respectfully, 

L.  P.  WALKER,  Secretary  of  War. 
Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  574-575. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  149 

conclude  that  the  Indian  troops,  if  raised,  were  to  be 
used  very  generally  and  exactly  as  any  other  volunteers 
might  be  used.  This  is  important  in  view  of  the  stand, 
and  a  very  positive  one  it  was,  that  Albert  Pike  took 
some  time  afterwards.  In  his  own  letter288  to  Johnson 
of  May  11,  1861,  he  does  not  specifically  say  that  the 
Indian  soldiers,  whose  mustering  he  has  in  contempla- 
tion, are  not  to  be  used  outside  of  the  Indian  country; 
but  he  does  insist  that  that  country  be  occupied  by  them 
and  by  a  certain  number  of  white  regiments -another 
important  point  as  subsequent  events  will  divulge.' 

General  McCulloch  took  up  his  part  of  the  task  of 
securing  the  Indians  in  his  own  characteristic  way.  He 
had  great  energy  and  great  enthusiasm  and  both  qual- 
ities were  displayed  to  the  fullest  extent  on  the  present 
occasion.  He  first  laid  his  plans  for  taking  possession 
forthwith  of  the  Indian  country,  it  having  come  to  his 
knowledge  that  Colonel  Emory  with  the  Federal  forces 
had  abandoned  it.239  Apparently,  it  had  never  occurred 
to  McCulloch  that  the  Indians  themselves  might  be 
averse  to  such  a  proceeding  on  his  part  but  he  was  soon 
made  aware  of  it;  for  when  he  consulted240  with  John 
Ross,  he  found,  to  his  discomfiture  and  deep  chagrin, 
that  the  desire  and  the  determination  of  this  greatest  of 
all  the  Indians  was  to  remain  strictly  neutral.  On  the 
twelfth  of  June,  McCulloch  still  further  communicat- 
ed241 with  Ross  and  informed  him  that  he  would  respect 
his  wishes  in  so  far  as  expediency  justified  but  that  he 
would  have  to  insist  upon  the  inherent  right  of  the  in- 
dividual Cherokees  to  organize  themselves  into  a  force 

238  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  572-574. 
w  —  lbid.,  583. 

240  See  McCulloch  to  Walker,  May  28,  1861,  ibid.,  587;  also  same  to  same, 
June  12,  1861,  ibid.,  590-591. 

241  —  Ibid.,  591-592 ;  also  vol.  xiii,  495. 


150     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

of  Home  Guards  should  they  feel  so  inclined.     Then 
he  closed  his  letter  by  this  note  of  warning: 

Should  a  body  of  men  march  into  your  Territory  from  the 
North,  or  if  I  have  an  intimation  that  a  body  is  in  line  of  march 
for  the  Territory  from  that  quarter,  I  must  assure  you  that  I 
will  at  once  advance  into  your  country,  if  I  deem  it  advisable. 

Once  again  the  forbearance  of  Chief  Ross  had  been 
put  to  a  severe  test,  but  he  none  the  less  replied  to  Mc- 
Culloch  with  his  customary  dignity.  Ross  was  then  at 
Park  Hill,  McCulloch  at  Fort  Smith,  where  he  had 
halted  hoping  that  the  permission  would  be  forthcom- 
ing for  him  to  cross  the  line.  Ross's  reply242  came  by 
return  mail,  so  to  speak,  and  was  dated  the  seventeenth. 
It  was  largely  a  reiteration  of  the  reasons  he  had  al- 
ready given  for  preserving  neutrality,  but  it  was  also 
a  positive  refusal  to  allow  the  individual  Cherokees  to 
organize  a  Home  Guard.  The  concluding  paragraph 
gives  the  lie  direct  to  those  intriguing  and  self-inter- 
ested politicians  who,  in  later  years,  endeavored  to  im- 
pugn Ross's  sincerity: 

Your  demand  that  those  people  of  the  nation  who  are  in 
favor  of  joining  the  Confederacy  be  allowed  to  organize  into 
military  companies  as  Home  Guards,  for  the  purpose  of  defend- 
ing themselves  in  case  of  invasion  from  the  North,  is  most  re- 
spectfully declined.  I  cannot  give  my  consent  to  any  such  or- 
ganization for  very  obvious  reasons :  First,  it  would  be  a  pal- 
pable violation  of  my  position  as  a  neutral;  second,  it  would 
place  in  our  midst  organized  companies  not  authorized  by  our 
laws  but  in  violation  of  treaty,  and  who  would  soon  become 
efficient  instruments  in  stirring  up  domestic  strife  and  creating 
internal  difficulties  among  the  Cherokee  people.  As  in  this 
connection  you  have  misapprehended  a  remark  made  in  conver- 
sation at  our  interview  some  eight  or  ten  days  ago,  I  hope  you 
will  allow  me  to  repeat  what  I  did  say.  I  informed  you  that  I 

242  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515 ;  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
Hi,  596-597  and  vol.  xiii,  495-497. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  151 

had  taken  a  neutral  position,  and  would  maintain  it  honestly, 
but  that  in  case  of  a  foreign  invasion,  old  as  I  am,  I  would  assist 
in  repelling  it.  .  . 

It  will  develop  later  how  Ross's  wishes  with  respect 
to  the  enrollment  of  Home  Guards  were  successfully 
and  adroitly  circumvented,  with  the  connivance  of  Gen- 
eral McCulloch,  by  men  of  the  Ridge  faction  in  Cher- 
okee politics.  From  the  beginning,  McCulloch  seemed 
determined  not  to  take  Ross  seriously,  yet  he  duly  in- 
formed Secretary  Walker  of  the  turn  events  were  tak- 
ing. On  the  twelfth  of  June,  for  instance,  he  wrote243 
to  him  and  gave  an  account  of  his  recent  interview  with 
the  Cherokee  chief.  It  was  rather  a  misleading  ac- 
count, however;  for  it  conveyed  to  Walker  the  idea  that 
Ross  was  only  waiting  for  provocation  from  the  North 
to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the  Confederacy.  On  the  twen- 
ty-second of  June,  McCulloch  wrote244  to  Walker  again 

243  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  590-591. 

244  HEADQUARTERS  MCCULLOCH'S  BRIGADE, 

Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  June  22,  1861. 
HON.  L.  P.  WALKER,  Secretary  of  War: 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  the  inclosed  copy  of  a  communica- 
tion from  John  Ross,  the  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 

Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  I  do  not  think  it  advisable 
to  march  into  the  Cherokee  country  at  this  time  unless  there  is  some 
urgent  necessity  for  it.  If  the  views  expressed  in  my  communication  to 
you  of  the  i4th  instant  are  carried  out,  it  will,  I  am  satisfied,  force  the  con- 
viction on  the  Cherokees  that  they  have  but  one  course  to  pursue  -  that 
is,  to  join  the  Confederacy.  The  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  regiment  will 
be  kept  on  the  south  of  them;  Arkansas  will  be  to  the  east;  and  with  my 
force  on  the  western  border  of  Missouri  no  force  will  be  able  to  march 
into  the  Cherokee  Nation,  and  surrounded  as  they  will  be  by  Southern 
troops,  they  will  have  but  one  alternative  at  all  events.  From  my  posi- 
tion to  the  north  of  them,  in  any  event,  I  will  have  a  controlling  power 
over  them.  I  am  satisfied  from  my  interview  with  John  Ross  and  from 
his  communication  that  he  is  only  waiting  for  some  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  put  himself  with  the  North.  His  neutrality  is  only  a  pretext 
to  await  the  issue  of  events. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

BEN.  McCuLLOCH,  Brigadier-General  Commanding. 
Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  595-596. 


152     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and  to  the  same  effect  as  far  as  his  belief  that  Ross  was 
not  sincere  in  his  professions  of  neutrality  was  con- 
cerned, even  though,  in  the  interval  between  the  two 
letters,  he  had  been  carefully  corrected  by  Ross  himself 
and  even  though  he  was,  at  the  very  time,  sending  on  to 
Richmond,  the  correspondence  that  denied  the  truth  of 
his  own  statement.  He  did,  however,  add  that  his  be- 
lief now  was  that  Ross  was  awaiting  a  favorable  mo- 
ment to  join  forces  with  the  North. 

Albert  Pike,  special  commissioner  from  the  State 
Department  of  the  Confederate  States  to  the  Indian 
tribes  west  of  Arkansas,  had  accompanied  General  Mc- 
Culloch  on  his  visit  to  Ross,  the  latter  part  of  May, 
and  had  been  present  at  the  resulting  interview.  He 
had  told246  Toombs  that  he  would  leave  Little  Rock 
for  Fort  Smith  the  twenty-second  and  go  at  once246  to 
the  Cherokee  country.  At  Fort  Smith,  Pike  met  Mc- 
Culloch  and  the  two,  seeking  the  same  object,  agreed 
to  go  forward  together,247  having  already  been  ap- 
proached by  an  anti-Ross  element  of  the  Cherokee  Na- 
tion.248 Ross,  as  has  been  shown,  insisted  upon  main- 
taining an  attitude  of  strict  neutrality,  which  probably 
did  not  surprise  his  interviewers,  since,  according  to 
Pike's  own  testimony,  he  and  McCulloch  had  not  gone 
to  Park  Hill  expecting  to  be  able  to  effect  any  arrange- 
ment with  Chief  Ross.249  Ross,  however,  did  go  so  far 

245  See  Pike  to  Toombs,  May  20,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii, 
580-581]. 

248  On  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  Pike  wrote  to  Toombs  again  and  informed 
him  that  he  was  leaving  for  Tahlequah  that  very  morning  [ibid.,  fourth  ser., 
vol.  i,  359]. 

247  See  McCulloch  to  Walker,  May  28,  1861  [Ibid.,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  587- 
588]. 

248  See   Pike   to   Cooley,  February   17,    1866   [Indian  Office,  Miscellaneous 
Files']. 

w  —  Ibid. 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  153 

as  to  promise250  that  within  a  short  while  he  would  call 
a  meeting  of  the  Cherokee  Executive  Council  and  con- 
fer with  it  further  on  the  policy  to  be  pursued.  Ross 
doubtless  felt  that  it  was  a  part  of  political  wisdom  to 
do  this.  His  was  an  exceedingly  difficult  position;  for, 
within  the  nation,  there  was  a  large  element  in  favor  of 
secession.  It  was  a  minority  party,  it  is  true;  but,  none 
the  less,  it  represented  for  the  most  part,  the  intelligence 
and  the  property  and  the  influence  of  the  tribe.  Op- 
posed to  it  and  in  favor  of  neutrality,  was  the  large  ma- 
jority, not  nearly  so  influential  because  made  up  of  the 
full-bloods  and  of  those  otherwise  poverty-stricken  and 
obscure.  In  the  light  of  previous  tribal  discords,  the 
minority  party  was  the  old  Ridge,  or  Treaty,  Party, 
now  headed  by  Stand  Watie  and  E.  C.  Boudinot,  while 
the  majority  party  was  the  Ross,  or  Non-treaty  Party. 
Ross  himself,  his  nephew,  William  P.  Ross,  and  a  few 
others  were  the  great  exceptions  to  the  foregoing  char- 
acterization of  their  following.  Of  sturdy  Scotch  ex- 
traction and  honest  to  the  core,  they  personally  stood 
out  in  strong  contrast  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  non- 
secessionists  and  it  was  they  who  so  guided  public  sen- 
timent that  John  Ross  had  the  nation  back  of  him  when, 
on  May  17,  1861,  he  issued  his  memorable  Proclama- 
tion of  Neutrality:2" 

Proclamation  to  the  Cherokee  people 

Owing  to  the  momentous  state  of  affairs  pending  among  the 
people  of  the  several  States,  I,  John  Ross,  Principal  Chief, 
hereby  issue  this  my  proclamation  to  the  people  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  reminding  them  of  the  obligations  arising  under  their 
treaties  with  the  United  States,  and  urging  them  to  the  faithful 

250  McCulloch  to  Walker,  June  12,  1861   [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol. 
iii,  591]. 

251  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  xiii,  489-490. 


154     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

observance  of  said  treaties  by  the  maintenance  of  peace  and 
friendship  toward  the  people  of  all  the  States. 

The  better  to  obtain  these  important  ends,  I  earnestly  impress 
upon  all  my  fellow-citizens  the  propriety  of  attending  to  their 
ordinary  avocations  and  abstaining  from  unprofitable  discussions 
of  events  transpiring  in  the  States  and  from  partisan  demonstra- 
tions in  regard  to  the  same. 

They  should  not  be  alarmed  by  false  reports  thrown  into  cir- 
culation by  designing  men,  but  cultivate  harmony  among  them- 
selves and  observe  in  good  faith  strict  neutrality  between  the 
States  threatening  civil  war.  By  these  means  alone  can  the 
Cherokee  people  hope  to  maintain  their  rights  unimpaired  and  to 
have  their  own  soil  and  firesides  spared  from  the  baleful  effects 
of  a  devastating  war.  There  has  been  no  declaration  of  war 
between  the  opposing  parties,  and  the  conflict  may  yet  be  averted 
by  compromise  or  a  peaceful  separation. 

The  peculiar  circumstances  of  their  condition  admonish  the 
Cherokees  to  the  exercise  of  prudence  in  regard  to  a  state  of 
affairs  to  the  existence  of  which  they  have  in  no  way  contrib- 
uted; and  they  should  avoid  the  performance  of  any  act  or  the 
adoption  of  any  policy  calculated  to  destroy  or  endanger  their 
territorial  and  civil  rights.  By  honest  adherence  to  this  course 
they  can  give  no  just  cause  for  aggression  or  invasion  nor  any 
pretext  for  making  their  country  the  scene  of  military  opera- 
tions, and  will  be  in  a  situation  to  claim  and  retain  all  their 
rights  in  the  final  adjustment  that  will  take  place  between  the 
several  States.  For  these  reasons  I  earnestly  impress  upon  the 
Cherokee  people  the  importance  of  non-interference  in  the  affairs 
of  the  people  of  the  States  and  the  observance  of  unswerving 
neutrality  between  them. 

Trusting  that  God  will  not  only  keep  from  our  own  borders 
the  desolations  of  war,  but  that  He  will  in  infinite  mercy  and 
power  stay  its  ravages  among  the  brotherhood  of  States. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  the  executive  office  at  Park  Hill 
this  1 7th  day  of  May,  1861. 

JNO.  Ross,  Principal  Chief  Cherokee  Nation. 

The  discretion  of  the  Cherokees,  their  wily  diplo- 
macy if,  under  the  circumstances,  you  should  please  to 
call  it  such,  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  in- 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy 


discretion  and  the  impetuosity  of  some  of  their  neigh- 
bors. It  has  already  been  noted  how  the  Chickasaws 
expressed  their  southern  sympathies  in  the  legislative 
resolves252  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  but  not  as  yet 
how  the  Choctaws  took  an  equally  strong  stand.  Both 
tribes  were  so  very  pronounced  in  their  show  of  affec- 
tion for  the  Confederacy  that  they  gave  a  secessionist 
color  to  the  whole  of  the  Indian  Territory,  so  much  so, 
in  fact,  that  Lieutenant-colonel  Hyams  could  report253 
to  Governor  Moore  of  Louisiana,  on  the  twenty-eighth 
of  May,  and  upon  information  given  him  by  some  In- 
dian agent. 

.  .  .  That  the  nations  on  the  borders  of  this  State  (Ar- 
kansas) are  anxious  and  desirous  to  be  armed;  that  they  can  and 
will  muster  into  the  service  25,000  men;  that  they  have  immense 
supplies  of  beeves,  sufficient  to  supply  the  meat  for  the  whole 
Confederate  service.  All  they  ask  is  arms  and  enrollment.  If 
within  your  power  to  forward  their  views  with  the  President, 
it  would  be  a  great  step  in  the  right  direction,  and  erect  a  more 
effectual  barrier  against  the  Kansas  marauders  than  any  force 
that  could  be  sent  against  them,  and  thereby  protect  the  northern 
boundary  of  both  Arkansas  and  Louisiana.  The  reasons  why 
every  effort  should  be  made  to  arm  these  people  (now  heart  and 
soul  with  us)  to  defend  themselves  and  us  are  so  palpable,  that  I 
do  not  attempt  to  urge  them  upon  you,  but  do  solicit  your  at- 
tention, so  far  as  is  compatible  with  your  high  position,  to  this 
matter,  to  impress  its  importance  on  the  President,  and  use  your 
well-known  influence  to  effect  this  much  desirable  result.  .  . 

General  McCulloch,  in  a  letter254  also  of  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  May,  more  particularly  specified  the  tribes 
that  were  friendly  to  the  South,  but  he  too  mentioned 
some  of  them,  the  Choctaw  and  the  Chickasaw,  as 
"anxious  to  join  the  Southern  Confederacy."  It  should 
not  be  a  matter  of  surprise  then  to  find  that  on  the  four- 

252  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  Hi,  585-587. 
zsz  —  lbid.,  589. 
254  —  Ibid.,  587. 


156     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

teenth  of  June,  George  Hudson,  principal  chief  of  the 
Choctaw  Nation,  acting  in  accordance  with  the  will  of 
the  General  Council,  which  had  met  four  days  before, 
publicly  declared255  the  Choctaw  Nation,  "free  and  in- 
dependent}'1 The  chief's  proclamation  was,  in  effect,  a 
conscription  act  and  provided  for  the  enrollment,  for 
military  service  in  the  interests  of  the  Confederacy,  of 
all  competent  males  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
forty-five  years.  The  General  Council  had  authorized 
this  and  had  further  arranged  for  the  appointment  of 
commissioners  "to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  alliance  and 
amity"  with  the  Confederate  States. 

Under  such  conditions,  the  work  of  Albert  Pike  must 
have  seemed  all  plain  sailing  when  once  he  was  safely 
beyond  the  Cherokee  limits;  but  his  efforts,256  vain 
though  they  were,  to  persuade  that  tribe  into  an  alliance 
did  not  end257  with  the  first  recorded  interview  with 
Ross.  He  kept  up  his  intercourse  with  the  Ridge  fac- 
tion; but  finally  decided  that  as  far  as  Ross  and  the  na- 
tion as  a  whole  were  concerned  it  would  be  best  to  await 
the  issue  of  events.  It  was  only  too  apparent  to  all  the 
southern  agents  and  commissioners  that  Ross  would 
never  yield  his  opinion  unless  compelled  thereto  by  one 
of  three  things  or  a  combination  of  any  or  all  of  them. 
The  three  things  were,  pressure  from  within  the  tribe; 
some  extraordinary  display  of  Confederate  strength 
that  would  presage  ultimate  success  for  southern  arms; 
and  encroachment  by  the  Federals.  It  was  the  com- 


593-594- 

256  See  Albert  Pike  to  John  Ross,  June  6,   1861   and  John  Ross  to  Albert 
Pike,  July  i,  1861  in  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515. 

257  It  would  appear  that,   failing  with  John  Ross,  Pike  tried  to  negotiate 
with  the  disaffected  Cherokees  under  the  control  of  Stand  Watie,  Boudinot,  and 
others.     See  Office  Letter  to  President  Johnson,  February  25,  1866.     Pike  him- 
self says  that  he  invited  some  of  these  men  to  meet  him  at  the  Creek  Agency. 
See  Pike  to  Cooley,  February  17,  1866. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  157 

bination  that  eventually  won  the  day.     Pike,  mean- 
while, had  passed  on  to  the  Creek  country. 

At  the  North  Fork  Village,  in  the  Creek  country,  the 
work  of  negotiating  Indian  treaties  in  the  interests  of 
the  Confederacy  really  began  and  it  did  not  end  until 
a  rather  long  series  of  them  had  been  concluded.  The 
series  consisted  of  nine  main  treaties258  and  the  nine 
group  themselves  into  three  distinct  classes.  The  basis 
of  classification  is  the  relative  strength  or  power  of  the 
tribe,  or  better,  the  degree  of  concession  which  the  Con- 
federacy, on  account  of  that  strength  or  that  power  or 
under  stress  of  its  own  dire  needs,  felt  itself  obliged  to 
make.  This  is  the  list  as  classified : 

FIRST  CLASS 

1.  Creek,  negotiated  at  North  Fork,  Creek  Nation,  July  259  10, 
1861 

2.  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw,  negotiated  at  North  Fork,  July 
12,  1861 

3.  Seminole,  negotiated  at  the  Seminole  Council  House,  Au- 
gust i,  1861 

4.  Cherokee,  negotiated  at  Tahlequah,  Chreokee  Nation,  Oc- 
tober 7,  1 86 1 

SECOND  CLASS 

1.  Osage,  negotiated  at  Park  Hill,  Cherokee  Nation,  October 
2,  1861 

2.  Seneca  and  Shawnee,  negotiated  at  Park  Hill,  October  4, 
1861 

3.  Quapaw,  negotiated  at  Park  Hill,  October  4,  1861 


258  The  text  of  the  treaties  is  to  be  found  in  the  Confederate  Statutes  and 
also  in  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  as  follows: 

Creek  Treaty,  426-443  Comanche  Treaty,  548-554 

Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty,  445-     Osage  Treaty,  636-646 

466  Seneca  and  Shawnee  Treaty,  647-658 

Seminole  Treaty,  513-527  Quapaw  Treaty,  659-666 

Wichita  Treaty,  542-548  Cherokee  Treaty,  669-687 

259  Although  the  Creek  Treaty  was  negotiated  July  tenth  and  was  the  first 
to  be  negotiated,  Dole  was  ignorant  of  its  existence  as  late  as  October  second 


158     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

THIRD  CLASS 

1.  Wichita,  etc.,  negotiated  at  the  Wichita  Agency  near  the 
False  Washita  River,  August  12,  1861 

2.  Comanche,  negotiated  at  the  Wichita  Agency,  August  12, 
1861 

Although  all  the  treaties,  made  in  1861  by  Albert 
Pike,  were  negotiated  under  authority260  of  the  Act  of 
the  Provisional  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States,  ap- 
proved May  21,  1 86 1,  by  which  the  Confederacy  of- 
fered and  agreed  to  accept  the  protectorate  of  the  In- 
dian tribes  west  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri,  only  those 
made  with  the  great  tribes  contained  a  statement,261 
definitely  showing  that  the  protectorate  had  been  for- 
mally offered,  formally  accepted  and  formally  assumed. 
Thus,  in  a  very  unequivocal  way,  Creeks,  Choctaws, 
Chickasaws,  Seminoles,  and  Cherokees,  all  signified262 
their  willingness  to  transfer  their  allegiance  from  the 
United  to  the  Confederate  States.  The  smaller  tribes 
seem  not  to  have  been  asked  to  make  the  same  conces- 
sion and  their  nationality  was,  in  no  sense,  recognized. 
They  acted  more  or  less  under  duress  or  compulsion, 
and  the  very  negotiation  of  treaties  with  them  was  taken 
as  a  full  compliance  with  the  confederate  scheme. 

The  nationality  of  the  great  tribes,  or  more  properly 
speaking,  their  political  importance,  was  still  further 

[Report,  1861,  39],  which  only  goes  to  prove  how  very  slight  was  the  Federal 
communication  with  Indian  Territory  through  all  that  critical  time. 
240  President  Davis,  in  his  message  of  December  12,  1861,  said, 
Considering  this  act  as  a  declaration  by  Congress  of  our  future  policy 
in  relation  to  those  Indians,  a  copy  of  that  act  was  transmitted  to  the 
commissioner  and  he  was  directed  to  consider  it  as  his  instructions  in 
the   contemplated    negotiation.     [Richardson,   Messages   and   Papers   of 
the  Confederacy,  vol.  i,  14.9 ;  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  785.] 
261  All  the  treaties  of  the  First  Class  contain  a  Preamble,  lacking  in  the 
others,  which  specifically  outlines  the  assumption  of  the  protectorate.     In  addi- 
tion, those  same  treaties  have  a  special  clause  accepting  the  full  force  of  the 
Act  of  May  twenty-first 

All  references  to  these  treaties,  unless  otherwise  noted,  will  be  page  refer- 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  159 

recognized  by  clauses  guaranteeing  territorial  and  po- 
litical integrity,263  representation  by  delegates264  in  the 

ences  to  the  treaties  as  found  in  the  Statutes  at  Large  of  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 

262  See  Creek  Treaty,  Articles  II  and  iv,  pp.  289,  290;  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw  Treaty,  Articles  n  and  VH,  pp.  312,  313 ;  Seminole  Treaty,  Articles  n  and 
iv>  pp.  332,  333;  Cherokee  Treaty,  Articles  u  and  v,  pp.  395,  396. 

263  ARTICLE  vin  (Creek  Treaty).    The  Confederate  States  of  America 
do  hereby  solemnly  agree  and  bind  themselves  that  no  State  or  Territory 
shall  ever  pass  laws  for  the  government  of  the  Creek  Nation ;  and  that 
no  portion  of  the  country  hereby  guaranteed  to  it  shall  ever   be  em- 
braced or  included  within  or  annexed  to  any  Territory  or  Province;  nor 
shall  any  attempt  ever  be  made,  except  upon  the  free,  voluntary  and  un- 
solicited application  of  the  said  nation,  to  erect  the  said  country,  by  it- 
self or  with  any  other,  into  a  State  or  any  other  territorial  or  political 
organization,  or  to  incorporate  it  into  any  State  previously  created  [p. 
291]. 

Compare  with  similar  articles  in  the  other  treaties;  viz.,  Article  x  of  the 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw,  p.  314;  Article  vni  of  the  Seminole,  p.  334;  Article 
vin  of  the  Cherokee,  p.  397;  Articles  vin  and  xxvi  of  the  Osage,  pp.  364,  367; 
Articles  vm  and  xix  of  the  Seneca  and  Shawnee,  pp.  376,  377;  Article  VH  of 
the  Quapaw,  p.  387. 

264  ARTICLE  XL    (Creek  Treaty).     In  order  to  enable  the   Creek   and 
Seminole  Nations  to  claim  their  rights  and  secure  their  interests  without 
the  intervention  of  counsel  or  agents,  and  as  they  were  originally  one 
and  the  same  people  and  are  now  entitled  to  reside  in  the  country  of 
each  other,  they  shall  be  jointly  entitled  to  a  delegate  to  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  who  shall  serve 
for  the  term  of  two  years,  and  be  a  member  of  one  of  the  said  nations, 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  labouring  under  no  legal  disability 
by  the  law  of  either  nation;   and  each  delegate  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
same  rights  and  privileges  as  may  be  enjoyed  by  delegates  from  any 
territories  of  the  Confederate  States  to  the  said  House  of  Representatives. 
Each  shall  receive  such  pay  and  mileage  as  shall  be  fixed  by  the  Con- 
gress of  the  Confederate  States.    The  first  election  for  delegate  shall  be 
held  at  such  time  and  places,  and  be  conducted  in  such  manner  as  shall 
be  prescribed  by  the  agent  of  the  Confederate  States,  to  whom  returns 
of  such  election  shall  be  made,  and  he  shall  declare  the  person  having 
the  greatest  number  of  votes  to  be  duly  elected,  and  give  him  a  certifi- 
cate of  election  accordingly,  which  shall  entitle  him  to  his  seat.     For  all 
subsequent  elections,  the  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  them  and 
ascertaining  and  certifying  the  result  shall  be  prescribed  by  law  of  the 
Confederate  States   [p.  297]. 

Compare  with  Article  xxvii  of  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  [p.  318],  the 
chief  point  of  difference  between  the  two  being  that,  in  the  latter  treaty  the 
delegate  to  which  the  two  tribes,  parties  to  the  treaty,  were  entitled  jointly, 


160     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Confederate  Congress,  and  the  prospect265  of  ultimate 
statehood.  The  guarantee  of  territorial  integrity  was, 

was  to  be  elected  from  them  alternately.  The  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty 
also  stipulated  that  the  delegate  was  to  be  a  member  by  birth  or  blood  on 
either  the  father's  or  the  mother's  side.  The  corresponding  provision  in  the 
Cherokee  Treaty,  Article  XLIV  [pp.  403-404],  said  that  the  delegate  should  be  a 
native  born  citizen.  The  Seminole  arrangement,  Article  xxxvn  [p.  339],  was, 
as  might  be  expected,  exactly  the  same  as  the  Creek. 

265  The  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  was  the  only  one  that  developed 
this  idea.  We  might  presume  that  the  Creeks  were  even  opposed  to  it  This 
is  how  it  appears  in  Articles  xxvin,  xxix,  and  xxx,  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw Treaty  [pp.  318-319]: 

ARTICLE  XXVIIL  In  consideration  of  the  uniform  loyalty  and  good 
faith,  and  the  tried  friendship  for  the  people  of  the  Confederate  States, 
of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  people,  and  of  their  fitness  and  capacity 
for  self-government,  proven  by  the  establishment  and  successful  main- 
tenance, by  each,  of  a  regularly  organized  republican  government,  with 
all  the  forms  and  safe-guards  to  which  the  people  of  the  Confederate 
States  are  accustomed,  it  is  hereby  agreed  by  the  Confederate  States, 
that  whenever  and  so  soon  as  the  people  of  each  nation  shall,  by  ordi- 
nance of  a  convention  of  delegates,  duly  elected  by  majorities  of  the 
legal  voters,  at  an  election  regularly  held  after  due  and  ample  notice, 
in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  each,  respectively,  declare 
its  desire  to  become  a  State  of  the  Confederacy,  the  whole  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw  country,  as  above  defined,  shall  be  received  and  admitted 
into  the  Confederacy  as  one  of  the  Confederate  States,  on  equal  terms, 
in  all  respects,  with  the  original  States,  without  regard  to  population; 
and  all  the  members  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Nations  shall 
thereby  become  citizens  of  the  Confederate  States,  not  including,  how- 
ever, among  such  members,  the  individuals  of  the  bands  settled  in  the 
leased  district  aforesaid. 

Provided,  That,  as  a  condition  precedent  to  such  admission,  the  said 
nations  shall  provide  for  the  survey  of  their  lands,  the  holding  in  sev- 
erally of  parts  thereof  by  their  people,  the  dedication  of  at  least  one 
section  in  every  thirty-six  to  purposes  of  education,  and  the  sale  of  such 
portions  as  are  not  reserved  for  these,  or  other  special  purposes,  to  citi- 
zens of  the  Confederate  States  alone,  on  such  terms  as  the  said  nation 
shall  see  fit  to  fix,  not  intended  or  calculated  to  prevent  the  sale  thereof. 
ARTICLE  xxix.  The  proceeds  of  such  sales  shall  belong  entirely  to 
members  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Nations,  and  be  distributed 
among  them  or  invested  for  them  in  proportion  to  the  whole  population 
of  each,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislatures  of  said  nations  shall  pro- 
vide ;  nor  shall  any  other  persons  ever  have  any  interest  in  the  annuities 
or  funds  of  either  the  Choctaw  or  Chickasaw  people,  nor  any  power  to 
legislate  in  regard  thereto. 

ARTICLE  xxx.  Whenever  the  desire  of  the  Creek  and  Seminole 
people  and  the  Cherokees  to  become  a  part  of  the  said  State  shall  be 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  161 

of  a  certainty,  not  new.  It  had  been  inserted  into  vari- 
ous removal  treaties  as  a  safeguard  against  a  repetition 
of  the  injustice  that  had  been  meted  out  to  the  Indians 
by  the  Southern  States  in  Jackson's  day.  It  comprised, 
in  effect,  a  solemn  promise  that  no  state  or  territorial  lines 
should  ever  again  circumscribe  the  particular  domain 
of  the  Indian  nation  securing  the  guarantee;  and  that 
state  or  territorial  laws,  as  the  case  might  be,  should 
have  no  operation  within  the  Indian  country.  The  idea 
of  congressional  representation266  was  also  not  new,  but 
where  it  had  previously  been  but  a  promise  or  a  mere 
contingency,  it  was  now  an  assured  fact,  a  thing  definite- 
ly provided  for.  Ultimate  statehood  had,  however,  at- 
tached to  it  the  old  time  elements  of  uncertainty,  which 
is  not  at  all  surprising,  considering  that  Walker,  in  his 
instructions267  to  Hubbard,  had  positively  spoken 
against  it. 

All  the  treaties,  without  distinction  of  class,  recog- 
nized the  land  rights  of  the  Indians  and  their  existing 
territorial  limits,  but  with  the  usual  restriction  upon 
alienation  to  foreign  powers.    A  sale  or  cession  to  a  for- 
eign  state,   without  the   consent  of   the   Confederate 
States,  was  to  result  in  forfeiture  and  reversion  to  the 
Confederate  States.     By  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw 
Treaty,     the     arrangement,268     already     satisfactorily 
reached,  for  a  Chickasaw  country  distinct  from  a  Choc- 
expressed,   in  the  same  manner  and  with  the  same  formalities,  as  is 
above  provided  for  in  the  case  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  people, 
the  country  of  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  and  that  of  the  Cherokees,  re- 
spectively, or  either  by  itself,  may  be  annexed  to  and  become  an  integral 
part  of  said  State,  upon  the  same  conditions  and  terms,  and  with  the 
same  rights  to  the  people  of  each,  in  regard  to  citizenship  and  the  pro- 
ceeds of  their  lands. 

266  Abel,  "Proposals  for  an  Indian  State  in  the  Union,  1778-1878,"  in  the 
American  Historical  Association,  Report,  1907,  pp.  89-102. 

267  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  577. 
2(58  Articles  V  and  vi. 


1 62     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

taw  was  continued,  the  Indians  of  both  tribes  being  giv- 
en the  privilege  of  having  their  particular  land  sur- 
veyed and  sectionized  whenever  they  might  so  please, 
provided  it  be  done  by  regular  legislative  process.269 
The  same  treaty  transferred270  the  lease  of  the  Wichita 
Reserve  from  the  United  to  the  Confederate  States  and 
limited  it  to  ninety-nine  years.  Practically  the  same 
bands  of  Indians  were  to  be  accommodated  in  this 
Leased  District  as  before;  namely,  those  whose  perma- 
nent ranges  were  south  of  the  Canadian  or  between  it 
and  the  Arkansas.  The  New  Mexican  Indians  were 
still  to  be  absolutely  excluded.  The  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw  Indians  reserved  the  right  to  pass  upon  the 
accommodation  of  any  other  Indians  than  those  spe- 
cifically mentioned  in  the  treaty.  The  individual  bands, 
so  accommodated  in  the  Leased  District,  were  to  be 
settled  upon  reserves  and  to  hold  the  same  in  fee. 
Finally,  the  treaty  placed,271  for  the  time  being,  the 
Wichitas  and  their  fellow  reservees  exclusively  under 
the  control  of  the  Confederate  States  with  a  limited  jur- 
isdiction resting  in  the  Choctaw  Nation  and  a  full  right 
of  settlement  in  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws. 

In  regard  to  special  features  of  the  land  rights  of 
tribes  other  than  those  already  mentioned,  it  is  well  to 
observe,  perhaps,  that  the  title  to  the  reservation  then 
occupied  by  the  Seminoles  was  admitted  to  be  depend- 
ent upon  Creek  sufferance;272  that  the  United  States 
patent  of  December  31,  1838,  was  recognized273  as  pro- 
tecting the  Cherokee;  and  that  the  Osage  lands  in  Kan- 
sas were  inferentially  covered  by  the  Confederate  guar- 

2«9  Article  VIII. 

270  Article  XI. 

271  Article  xn. 

272  Article  vii  of  the  Seminole  Treaty  [p.  334.],  and  Article  VH  likewise  of 
the  Creek  Treaty  [p.  291]. 

273  Article  iv  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  [pp.  395-396]. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  163 

antee,  given  that  tribe,  of  title  in  perpetuity.274  The 
Confederate  States,  moreover,  agreed  to  indemnify273 
the  Cherokees  should  their  Neutral  Lands  be  lost  to 
them  through  the  misfortune  of  the  war.  It  is  rather 
interesting  to  see  that  this  new  government,  in  promis- 
ing the  insignificant  tribes  a  permanent  occupancy  of 
their  present  holdings,  made  use  of  the  same  high- 
flown,  meaningless  language  that  the  United  States  had 
so  long  used ;  but  Albert  Pike  knew  better  than  to  assure 
the  truly  powerful  tribes  that  they  should  hold  their 
lands  themselves  and  in  common  "as  long  as  the  grass 
should  grow  and  the  waters  run."  That  language  could 
yet  be  made  appealing  and  effective,  though,  in  official 
dealings  with  weak  Wichitas,276  Senecas,  and  Shaw- 
nees,277  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  even  with  Creeks.278 
In  reciprocal  fashion,  the  wild  Comanches  could  most 
naively  promise279  to  hold  the  Confederate  States  "by 
the  hand,  and  have  but  one  heart  with  them  always." 
Speaking  of  indemnification,  we  are  reminded  of 
other  very  important  financial  obligations  assumed  by 
the  Confederacy  when  it  made  its  famous  treaties  with 
the  Indians  west  of  Arkansas.  Those  financial  obliga- 
tions comprised  the  payment  of  annuities  due  the  tribes 
from  the  United  States  in  return  for  land  cessions  of 
enormous  extent.  They  also  comprised  the  interest  on 
various  funds,  such  as  the  Orphan  Creek  fund,  educa- 
tion funds,  and  the  like.  Albert  Pike  had  been  given 
no  specific  authority  to  do  this  but  he  knew  well  that  no 

274  In  the  matter  of  the  guarantee  of  territorial  integrity,  the  treaties  of  the 
Second  Class  were  strictly  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  First  Class.    See  Article 
viii  of  the  Osage  Treaty   [p.   364],   Article  xix  of  the   Seneca   and   Shawnee 
Treaty  [p.  378],  Article  vn  of  the  Quapaw  [p.  387]. 

275  Article  XLVH  [pp.  407-408]. 

276  Article  V  [p.  348]. 

277  Article  HI  [pp.  374-375]. 

278  Article  v  [p.  291]. 
«•  Article  I  [p.  354]. 


164     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

treaties  could  possibly  be  made  without  it.  It  was  not 
very  likely  that  the  slaveholding  tribes  would  surren- 
der so  much  wealth  for  nothing,  and  so  Pike  argued, 
when  justifying  himself  and  his  actions  later  on.  In  his 
capacity  as  commissioner  with  plenary  powers,  he  also 
promised  the  Indians  that  the  Confederacy  would  see 
to  it  that  their  trust  funds,  secured  by  southern  bonds, 
should  be  rendered  safe  and  negotiable.  Over  and 
above  all  this,  the  government  of  the  Confederate 
States  made  itself  responsible  for  claims  for  damages 
of  various  sorts  that  the  different  tribes  had  brought  or 
were  to  bring  against  the  United  States.  Three  good 
instances  of  the  same  are  the  following:  the  claim  of 
the  Cherokees  for  losses,  personal  and  national,  incident 
to  the  removal  from  Georgia ;  the  claim 28*  of  the  Sem- 

280  For  an  illustration  of  how  the  Scminoles  had  been  preferring  the  claim, 
see  the  following  affidavit: 

Be  it  known  that  on  this  zzd  day  of  January,  A.D.  1856,  personally 
appeared  before  me,  J.  W.  Washbourne,  United  States'  Agent  for  Sem- 
inoles,  in  open  Council,  the  following  named  Chiefs  and  Head  men  of 
the  Seminole  tribe  of  Indians,  and  deposed  to  the  subsequent  statement. 

That  sometime  during  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  the 
Seminoles,  Gen.  Thomas  S.  Jessup,  then  commanding  the  U.S.  troops  in 
Florida,  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  effect  that  all  negroes  belonging 
to  the  hostile  Seminoles  who  should  come  in  and  take  service  under  the 
Government  against  their  masters,  or  in  any  way  render  service  to  the 
United  States  against  the  Seminoles,  or  induce  them  to  sue  for  peace 
and  emigrate  west,  they,  the  negroes,  should  be  declared  free:  That 
many  negroes  took  advantage  of  said  illegal  proclamation  and  did  take 
service  in  Florida  under  Government,  but  that,  by  far  the  larger  num- 
ber of  negro  slaves  who  took  refuge  under  said  proclamation  and  thereby 
claimed  their  freedom,  did  so  after  the  immigration  west  was  deter- 
mined or  consummated:  That  said  negro  slaves,  in  great  numbers  and 
to  the  great  injury  of  their  owners,  and  against  their  orders,  took  refuge 
within  the  United  States'  post,  Fort  Gibson,  Cherokee  Nation,  where 
they  were  for  upwards  of  three  years  protected  by  the  United  States 
officers  at  that  Post,  although  the  Seminoles  claimed  them,  the  negroes, 
as  their  lawful  slaves,  and  protested  against  this  procedure  of  the  U.S. 
officers:  That  while  these  negro  slaves  were  thus  protected  by  military 
officers,  it  was  impossible  to  keep  their  slaves  at  home  who  were  con- 
tinually flying  to  Fort  Gibson,  where  they  were  beyond  the  reach  of 
their  masters:  That  this  occurred  during  the  years  i845-'6-*7:  That 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  165 

inoles  for  losses  sustained  by  reason  of  General  Thomas 

through  the  instrumentality  of  their  former  Sub  Agent  and  attornies 
employed  by  them,  they  after  long  delay  and  at  great  expense  and  loss 
of  slaves,  presented  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
Hon.  Wm,  L.  Marcy,  and  that  finally  from  him,  as  such  Secretary  of 
War,  there  issued  an  order  bearing  date  the  sth  of  August  1848,  di- 
rected to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Gibson,  enjoining  him  to  pro- 
tect no  longer  said  negro  slaves  at  that  Post  and  commanding  him  to 
deliver  all  of  said  slaves  to  the  Seminoles  their  rightful  owners:  That 
even  after  this  order  the  nuisance  did  not  abate,  for  another  order  dated 
July  sist  1850  required  the  commanding  officer  of  Fort  Gibson  to  give 
no  further  protection  to  these  "Seminole  negroes":  That  by  this  order 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  as  was  just  and  right,  the  United  States 
recognised  the  ownership  of  these  said  slaves  as  being  in  the  Seminoles, 
and  that  they  were  entitled  by  law  and  right  to  said  slaves  and  their 
service:  That  in  consequence  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  protection  af- 
forded them  at  Fort  Gibson  and  from  their  having  so  long  considered 
themselves  free,  said  slaves  in  great  numbers  escaped,  some  of  whom 
reached  Mexico,  some  were  killed  by  the  wild  Indians,  and  the  re- 
mainder were  only  captured  at  great  and  ruinous  expense:  That  the 
owners  of  these  said  negro  slaves  are  justly  and  equitably  entitled  to  the 
service  of  said  slaves,  while  unlawfully  and  against  the  power  and  pro- 
tests of  the  Seminoles,  detained  at  Fort  Gibson  for  the  space  of  more 
than  three  years,  by  U.S.  officers:  That  the  number  of  said  negro  slaves 
so  unlawfully  detained  and  kept  from  the  service  due  their  masters,  as 
near  as  now  can  be  estimated  was  Two  Hundred  and  Thirty-four  or 
thereabouts:  That  the  services  of  these  said  slaves  for  these  three  years 
and  upwards  were  amply  worth  at  the  time  Seventy  five  dollars  each 
per  annum,  making  the  sum  of  Fifty  two  Thousand  Six  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  ($52.650.0x3,)  to  which  the  Seminole  owners  of  said  slaves 
are  fully  and  fairly,  in  law  and  equity,  entitled,  and  which  ought  to  be 
paid  to  them  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

JOHN  JUMPER,  P.  Chief  Seminoles  X  his  mark 

PAH  sue  AH  YO  HO  LAH,  Speaker  Council  X  his  mark 

CHITTO-TUSTO-MUGGEE  X  his  mark 

ARHAH-LOCK-TUSTO-MUGGEE  X  his  mark 

NOKE-SU-KEE  X  his  mark 

PARS-CO-FER  X  his  mark 

TESI-KI-AH  X  his  mark 

ALLIGATOR  X  his  mark 

TALLA-HASSA  X  his  mark 

GEORGE  CLOUD  X  his  mark 

HO-TUL-GEE-HARJO  X  his  mark 

TAR-HAH  FIXICO  X  his  mark 
Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  in  open  Council  Jany  22d  1856. 

J.  W.  WASHBOURNE  U.S.  Agent  for  Seminoles. 
Witnesses:    GEORGE  M.  AUD 


166     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

S.  Jesup's  emancipation281  order  during  the  progress  of 
the  Second  Seminole  War;  and  the  claim  of  the  Wich- 
itas  against  the  United  States  government  for  having 
granted  to  the  Choctaws  the  land  that  belonged  by  he- 
reditary preemption  to  them  and  had  so  belonged  from 
time  out  of  mind.  It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  know 
that  these  Wichitas  had  been  colonized  on  the  very  land 
they  claimed  as  indisputably  their  own. 

In  all  the  treaties,  negotiated  by  Pike,  except  the  two 
of  the  Third  Class,282  the  Wichita  and  the  Comanche, 
the  institution  of  slavery  was  positively  and  particularly 
recognized,  recognized  as  legal  and  as  having  existed 
from  time  immemorial.  Property  rights  in  slaves  were 
guaranteed.  Fugitive  Slave  Laws  were  declared  oper- 
ative within  the  Indian  country,  and  the  mutual  rendi- 
tion of  fugitives  was  promised  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Confederacy.  The  First  Class  of 
treaties  differs  from  the  Second  in  this  matter  but  only 
in  a  very  slight  degree.  The  latter  condenses  in  one 
clause283  all  that  bears  upon  slavery  in  its  various  as- 
pects, the  former  separates  the  discussion  of  the  legality 
of  the  institution  from  that  of  the  rendition  of  slaves. 
Of  the  First  Class,  the  Creek  Treaty284  constituted  the 

281  President  Polk  seems  to  have  been  of  the  opinion  that  negro  slaves  could 
not  be  freed  by  military  proclamation  [Diary  (Quaife's  edition),  vol.  iii,  504]. 

282  Slavery  was  not  completely  ignored   even  in  the  treaties  of  the  Third 
Class.     In  Article  ix  of  their  treaty  [p.  348],  the  Wichitas  promised  to  do  all  in 
their  power  to  take  and  return   any  negroes,  horses,  or  other  property  stolen 
from   white    men  or   from   Indians  of   the    great   tribes.     The   corresponding 
article  in  the  Comanche  Treaty  [p.  355],  was  to  like  purpose. 

288  Article  xxxvii  of  the  Osage  Treaty,  Article  xxvin  of  the  Seneca  and 
Shawnee  Treaty,  and  Article  xxvin  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty. 

284  The  following  are  the  Creek  clauses  and  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw, 
Articles  XLV  and  XLVII,  the  Seminole,  Articles  xxix  and  xxxm,  and  the  Chero- 
kee, Articles  xxxiv  and  xxxvn,  are  similar: 

ARTICLE  xxix.     The  provisions  of  all  such  acts  of  Congress  of  the 

Confederate  States  as  may  now  be  in  force,  or  may  hereafter  be  enacted, 

for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  provision  of  the  constitution 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  167 

model ;  of  the  Second,  the  Osage.285 

Aside  from  the  things  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made,  the  Confederate  Indian  treaties  were,  in  a 
variety  of  ways  and  to  the  same  extent  that  the  Confed- 
erate constitution  itself  was,  a  reflection  upon  past  his- 
tory. To  avoid  the  friction  that  had  always  been  pres- 
ent between  the  red  men  and  their  neighbors,  an  attempt 
was  now  made  to  redefine  and  to  readjust  the  relations 
of  Indians  with  each  other  both  within  and  without  the 
tribe;  their  relations  with  white  men  considered  apart 
from  any  political  organization;  their  relations,  either 
as  individuals  or  as  tribes,  with  the  several  states  of  the 
Confederacy;  and  their  relations  with  the  central  gov- 
ernment. In  general,  their  rights,  civil,  political,  and 
judicial,  as  men  and  as  semi-independent  communities 
were  now  specified  under  such  conditions  as  made  for 
what  in  times  past  would  have  been  regarded  as  full 
recognition,  and  even  for  enlargement.  Indian  rights 
were  at  a  premium  because  Indian  alliances  were  in 
demand. 

in  regard  to  the  re-delivery  or  return  of  fugitive  slaves,  or  fugitives 
from  labour  and  service,  shall  extend  to,  and  be  in  full  force  within  the 
said  Creek  Nation;  and  shall  also  apply  to  all  cases  of  escape  of  fugi- 
tive slaves  from  the  said  Creek  Nation  into  any  other  Indian  nation  or 
into  one  of  the  Confederate  States,  the  obligation  upon  each  such  nation 
or  State  to  re-deliver  such  slaves  being  in  every  case  as  complete  as  if 
they  had  escaped  from  another  State,  and  the  mode  of  procedure  the 
same  [p.  296]. 

ARTICLE  XXXIL  It  is  hereby  declared  and  agreed  that  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  said  nation  is  legal  and  has  existed  from  time  im- 
memorial ;  that  slaves  are  taken  and  deemed  to  be  personal  property ; 
that  the  title  to  slaves  and  other  property  having  its  origin  in  the  said 
nation,  shall  be  determined  by  the  laws  and  customs  thereof;  and  that 
the  slaves  and  other  personal  property  of  every  person  domiciled  in  said 
nation  shall  pass  and  be  distributed  at  his  or  her  death,  in  accordance 
with  the  laws,  usages  and  customs  of  the  said  nation,  which  may  be 
proved  like  foreign  laws,  usages  &  customs,  and  shall  everywhere  he 
held  valid  and  binding  within  the  scope  of  their  operation  [p.  296]. 

285  p.    369. 


1 68     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

The  relations  of  Indians  with  Indians  need  not  be 
considered  at  length.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  many  clauses 
were  devoted  to  the  regulation  of  the  affairs  of  those 
tribes  that  were,  either  politically  or  ethnologically, 
closely  connected  with  each  other;  as,  for  example,  the 
Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
Creeks  and  Seminoles  on  the  other.  Still  other  clauses 
assured  the  tribes  of  protection  against  hostile  invasion 
from  red  men  and  from  white,  and  assured  all  the  great 
tribes,  except  the  Cherokees,286  of  similar  protection 
against  domestic  violence.287  The  Cherokees,  very  pos- 
sibly, were  made  an  exception  because  of  the  known  in- 
tensity of  their  factional  strife  and  hatred,  which,  purely 
for  its  own  selfish  ends,  the  Confederacy  had  done  so 
much  to  augment.  There  may  also  have  been  some  lin- 
gering doubt  of  John  Ross's  sincerity  in  the  matter  of 
devotion  to  the  Confederacy.  The  time  had  been  and 
might  come  again  when  the  Confederacy  would  find  it 
very  expedient  to  play  off  one  faction  against  another. 
Injuries  coming  to  the  Indians  from  a  failure  to  protect 
were  to  be  indemnified  out  of  the  Confederate  treasury. 
Could  the  United  States,  throughout  the  more  than  a 
hundred  years  of  its  history  have  had  just  such  a  law, 
its  national  treasury  would  have  been  saved  millions  and 

286  Article  xvu  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  [p.  399]. 

287  ARTICLE    xv    (Creek   Treaty).     The   Confederate    States   shall    pro- 
tect the  Creeks   from  domestic  strife,  from  hostile   invasion,   and  from 
aggression  by  other  Indians  and  white  persons  not  subject  to  the  juris- 
diction and  laws  of  the  Creek  Nation,  and  for  all  injuries  resulting  from 
such  invasion  or  aggression,  full  indemnity  is  hereby  guaranteed  to  the 
party  or  parties  injured,  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  Confederate  States, 
upon  the  same  principle  and   according  to  the  same  rules  upon  which 
white  persons  are  entitled  to  indemnity  for  injuries  or  aggressions  upon 
them  committed  by  Indians  [p.  293]. 

See  also  Article  xxi  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  and  Article  xv  of 
the  Seminole  Treaty. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  169 

millions  of  dollars  paid  out  in  claims,  just  and  unjust, 
of  white  men  against  the  Indians. 

As  affecting  their  relations  with  white  men,  the  In- 
dians were  conceded  the  right  to  determine  absolutely, 
by  their  own  legislation,  the  conditions  of  their  own 
tribal  citizenship.  This  would  mean,  of  course,  the 
free  continuance  of  the  custom  of  adoption,  a  custom 
more  pernicious  in  Indian  history  than  even  the  prin- 
ciple of  equal  apportionment  in  Prankish;  because  it 
was  the  entering  wedge  to  territorial  encroachment. 
The  white  man,  once  adopted  into  the  tribe  as  a  citizen, 
was  to  be  protected  against  unjust  discrimination  or 
against  the  forfeiture  of  his  acquired  status.  The  pro- 
visions against  intruders  were  legitimately  severe,  those 
of  the  United  States  had  never  been  severe  enough. 
The  executive  power  had  always  been  very  weak  and 
very  lax  but  now  it  was  to  reside  in  the  tribal  Council 
and  would  bid  fair  to  be  firm  because  interested,  or,  per- 
haps, we  should  say  disinterested.  The  Confederacy, 
on  its  part,  promised  that  the  aid  of  the  military  should 
be  forthcoming  for  the  expulsion  of  intruders  on  appli- 
cation by  the  agent,  should  the  tribal  authority  prove 
inadequate.  The  Indians  might  compel  the  removal  of 
obnoxious  men  from  agency  and  military  reserves. 
Unauthorized  settlement  within  the  Indian  country  by 
citizens  of  the  Confederate  States  was  absolutely  for- 
bidden under  pain  of  punishment  by  the  tribe  en- 
croached upon. 

With  respect  to  Indian  trade,  there  was  consider- 
able innovation  and  considerable  modification  of  exist- 
ing laws.  For  years  past,  the  Indians  of  the  great 
tribes  had  chafed  under  the  restrictions  which  the 
United  States  government  had  placed  upon  their  trade 


170     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and,  unquestionably,  no  other  single  thing  had  irritated 
them  more  than  the  very  evident  monopoly  right  which 
the  United  States  had  given  to  a  few  white  men  over  it. 
Indian  trade,  under  federal  regulations,  was  nothing 
more  nor  less  than  an  extension  of  the  protective  policy, 
a  policy  that  was  destructive  of  all  competition  and  that 
put  the  Indian,  often  to  the  contempt  of  his  intelligence, 
at  the  mercy  of  the  white  sharper.  Indian  commis- 
sioner after  Indian  commissioner  had  protested  against 
it,  but  all  in  vain.  George  W.  Manypenny,  particu- 
larly, had  tried288  to  effect  a  change;  for  he  was  himself 
convinced  that,  if  the  Indians  were  capable  of  self- 
government,  they  were  certainly  capable  of  conducting 
their  own  trade.  Needless  to  say,  Manypenny's  efforts 
were  entirely  unavailing.  The  Indian  trade  in  the 
hands  of  the  licensed  white  trader,  although  a  per- 
nicious thing  for  the  Indian,  was  an  exceedingly  lucra- 
tive business  for  enterprising  American  citizens,  white 
men  who  were,  unfortunately,  in  possession  of  the  elect- 
ive franchise  but  of  little  else  that  was  honorable  and 
the  government,  controlled  by  constituents  with  local 
interests,  dared  not  surrender  it  to  the  unenfranchised 
Indians  no  matter  how  highly  competent  they  might 
be.  Thus  the  Indian  country,  throughout  its  entire 
extent,  was  exploited  for  the  sake  of  the  frontiersman. 
Moreover,  the  annuity  money,  a  just  tax  upon  a  govern- 
ment that  had  received  so  much  real  estate  from  the 
aborigines,  instead  of  being  spent  judiciously  to  meet 
the  ends  of  civilization  and  in  such  a  way  as  to  reflect 
credit  upon  the  donor,  who  after  all  was  a  self-consti- 
tuted guardian,  went  right  back  into  the  pockets  of 
United  States  citizens  but,  of  necessity,  into  those  of 
only  a  very  limited  number  of  them. 

288  Manypenny  to  Dean,  November  30,  1855  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book, 
no-  53>  PP-  94-95]-  Dean  to  Manypenny,  December  25,  1855  [Letter  Press 
BooK}. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  171 

Because  it  was  a  matter  of  expediency  and  not  be- 
cause it  was  a  principle  that  it  believed  in,  otherwise 
it  would  have  given  it  to  the  weak  tribes  as  well  as  to 
the  strong,  the  Confederacy  gave  to  the  Indians  of  the 
great  tribes,  but  not  to  all  in  exactly  the  same  measure,289 
the  control  of  their  own  trade.  It  did  not  do  away  with 
the  post  trader,  as  it  ought  to  have  done  in  order  to 
make  its  reform  complete,  but  it  did  deprive  him  of 
his  monopoly  privileges.  It  hedged  his  license  about 
with  restrictions,290  made  it  subject,  on  complaint  of  the 
Indian  and  in  the  event  of  arrearages,  to  revocation; 
and,  to  all  of  the  great  tribes  except  the  Seminoles,  it 
gave  the  power  of  taxing  his  goods,  his  stock  in  trade, 
usually  a  rather  paltry  outfit.  No  better  precaution 
could  have  possibly  been  devised  against  exorbitant 
charging.  An  ad  valorem  tax  would  most  certainly 
have  quite  eliminated  the  fifty,  the  one  hundred,  and 
the  two  hundred  per  cents  of  profit.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  extravagantly  high  prices  of  the  ordinary  In- 
dian trader  would  be,  for  most  persons,  positively  pro- 
hibitive. The  Confederacy  further  bound  itself  to  pay 
to  the  Indians  an  annual  compensation  for  the  land  and 
timber  used  by  the  trader. 

The  questions  settled  as  between  the  several  states  and 
the  Indian  tribes  were  chiefly291  of  property  rights  and 

289  Compare  Article  xx  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  and  Article  xxrv  of  the 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  with  Article  xvi  of  the  Creek  Treaty  and  all 
of  these  with  Article  xvi  of  the  Seminole  Treaty. 

290  See,  for  example,  Article  xvm  of  the  Seminole  Treaty  [p.  336]. 

291  One  other  important  right  was  conceded  and  that  was  the  right  of  free 
transit.     The  concession  is  well  stated  in  the  Creek  Treaty  and  occurs  in  con- 
nection with  a  prohibition  against  the  pasturing  of  stock  by  outsiders  within 
the  Creek  country. 

ARTICLE  XXH.  No  citizen  or  inhabitant  of  the  Confederate  States 
shall  pasture  stock  on  the  lands  of  the  Creek  Nation,  under  the  penalty 
of  one  dollar  per  head  for  all  so  pastured,  to  be  collected  by  the  authori- 
ties of  the  nation;  but  their  citizens  shall  be  at  liberty  at  all  times,  and 


172     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

of  civil  and  criminal  rights  and  procedure.  In  addi- 
tion to  their  property  right  in  slaves,  the  Indians  were 
at  last  admitted  to  have  a  possible  right  in  other  things, 
in  land,  for  instance,  that  might  lie  within  the  limits 
of  a  state.  This  they  were  henceforth  to  hold,  dispose 
of  as  they  pleased,  and  bequeath  by  will.292  Restric- 
tions, likewise,  upon  their  power  freely  to  dispose  of 
their  chattels,293  were  removed,  a  coordinate  concession, 
but  one  that  did  not  so  much  affect  their  relations  with 
a  given  individual  state  as  their  relations  with  the  cen- 
tral government.  To  such294  of  the  Indians  as  were 
not  to  be  brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Confed- 
erate States  District  Courts295  that  were  to  be  created 
within  the  Indian  country,  the  right  was  given  to  sue 
and  to  implead  in  any  of  the  courts  of  the  several  states. 
To  Indians  generally  of  the  great  tribes  was  given  the 
right  to  be  held  competent  as  witnesses296  in  state  courts, 
and,  if  indicted  there  themselves,  to  subpoena  witnesses 
and  to  employ  counsel.297  The  Cherokees,  the  Choc- 

whether  for  business  or  pleasure,  peaceably  to  travel  the  Creek  country; 
and  to  drive  their  stock  to  market  or  otherwise  through  the  same,  and  to 
halt  such  reasonable  time  on  the  way  as  may  be  necessary  to  recruit  their 
stock,  such  delay  being  in  good  faith  for  that  purpose. 

ARTICLE  xxni.  It  is  also  further  agreed  that  the  members  of  the 
Creek  Nation  shall  have  the  same  right  of  travelling,  driving  stock  and 
halting  to  recruit  the  same  in  any  of  the  Confederate  States  as  is  given 
citizens  of  the  Confederate  States  by  the  preceding  aricle  [p.  295]. 

292  Article  LXV  of  the  Creek  Treaty,  Article  xxvi  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw  Treaty,   Article  xxxi  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,   and  Article    xxn  of  the 
Cherokee  Treaty. 

293  Article  xvm  of   the   Creek  Treaty,   Article   XXV    of   the    Choctaw   and 
Chickasaw  Treaty,  Article  xix  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  and  Article  xxi  of  the 
Cherokee  Treaty.         . 

294  Article  LXV  of   the    Creek   Treaty   and   Article  xxxi  of  the    Seminole 
Treaty. 

295  Tush-ca-hom-ma  at  Boggy  Depot  and  Cha-lah-ki  at  Tahlequah. 

296  Article   xxx  of   the    Creek   Treaty,   Article  XLIII  of   the   Choctaw   and 
Chickasaw  Treaty,  Article  xxx  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  and  Article  xxxv  of 
the  Cherokee  Treaty. 

297  Article  xxviii  of  the  Creek  Treaty,  Article  XLIV  of  the  Choctaw  and 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  173 

taws,  and  the  Chickasaws  were  also  granted  the  right  of 
recovery298  as  against  citizens  of  the  Confederate  States. 
Should  recovery  not  be  possible,  the  Confederacy  was 
to  stand  the  loss.  But  more  than  anything  else  recip- 
rocal right  of  extradition  was  henceforth  to  be  accorded. 
This  was  to  exist  as  between  tribe  and  tribe299  and,  with 
some  slight  exceptions,  as  between  tribe  and  state.  An 
examination  of  the  various  treaties  reveals  a  steady  de- 
velopment in  the  matter  of  this  concession.  The  Creek 
Treaty,300  which  was  the  first  to  be  negotiated,  made 
extradition  a  rather  one-sided801  affair.  The  tribe  was 
to  yield  the  criminal  to  the  state,  but,  not  reciprocally, 
the  state  to  the  tribe.  This  verbal  inequality  would  not 
have  so  much  mattered  had  there  been  a  possibility  that 
in  the  sequel  it  would  have  been  interpreted,  as  in  the 

Chickasaw  Treaty,  Article  XXVIH  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  Article  xxxm  of  the 
Cherokee  Treaty,  Article  xxxvi  of  the  Osage  Treaty,  Article  xxvn  of  the 
Seneca  and  Shawnee  Treaty,  and  Article  xxvn  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty. 

298  Article  xxix  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  and  Article  xxm  of  the  Choctaw 
and  Chickasaw  Treaty. 

299  ARTICLE  xxxi  (Cherokee  Treaty)-     Any  person  duly  charged  with  a 
criminal  offence  against  the  laws  of  either  the  Creek,  Seminole,  Choctaw 
or  Chickasaw  Nations,  and  escaping  into  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Chero- 
kee Nation,  shall  be  promptly  surrendered  upon  the  demand  of  the  proper 
authority  of  the  nation  within  whose  jurisdiction  the  offence   shall  be 
alleged  to  have  been  committed ;   and  in  like  manner,  any  person  duly 
charged  with  a  criminal  offence  against  the  laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation, 
and  escaping  into  the  jurisdiction  of  either  of  the  said  nations,  shall  be 
promptly  surrendered  upon  the  demand  of  the  proper  authority  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation  [pp.  401-402]. 

Note  the  development  from  the  corresponding  extradition  clause  in  the  ear- 
lier treaties  of  the  series.  In  the  Creek  and  Seminole  treaties,  extradition  was 
as  between  Creeks  and  Seminoles  exclusively.  In  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw 
Treaty,  it  was  as  between  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  exclusively.  In  this  treaty 
of  the  Cherokees,  all  the  tribes  were  to  be  sharers  in  the  extradition  privilege; 
but  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  a  clause  in  the  Cherokee  Treaty  could  be 
made  legally  binding  upon  other  Indians  than  Cherokee. 

300  Article  xxvi. 

301  It  was  also  a  one-sided  affair  in  the  treaties  of  the  Second  Class.     See 
Article  xxxiv  of  the  Osage  Treaty,  Article  xxv  of  the  Seneca  and   Shawnee 
Treaty,   and  Article  xxv  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty. 


174     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

states,  in  terms  of  executive  courtesy  and  discretion; 
but  the  chances  were  that  a  state  would  have  made  it 
a  matter  of  absolute  obligation  with  the  tribe.  Reci- 
procity802 found  its  way  into  the  second  treaty,  however, 
and  also  into  all  the  later  ones  of  the  First  Class. 
Finally,  be  it  remarked,  that  as  a  climax  to  this  series 
of  judicial  concessions,  full  faith  and  credit303  were  to 
be  given  by  the  one  Indian  nation  or  Confederate  state, 
as  the  case  might  be,  to  all  legal  processes,  decisions, 
and  acts  of  the  other. 

There  yet  remain  two  provisions304  of  importance 
that  were  intended  to  put  the  Indian  nations  on  a  basis 
of  equality  with  the  states.  They  are  provisions  rather 
particular  in  their  nature,  however,  and,  in  their  full 
operation,  would  have  affected  Texas  and  Arkansas 
much  more  nearly  than  any  other  members  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  The  first  of  these  provisions  is 
to  be  found,  as  a  grant  of  mutual  rights,  only  in  treaties 
of  the  First  Class  and  in  two  only  of  those,  the  Choc- 
taw  and  Chickasaw  and  the  Cherokee.  The  omis- 
sion from  the  Creek  and  Seminole  treaties  was  due, 
most  likely,  to  geographical  conditions;  but  the  lack  of 
reciprocity  in  the  Osage,  the  one  treaty  of  the  Second 
Class  in  which  a  suggestion  of  the  provision  occurs, 
was  just  as  surely  due  to  the  weakness  of  the  tribe  from 
which  the  privilege  was  exacted.  The  provision  com- 
prehended the  use  of  navigable  streams  within  the 
limits  of  the  Confederacy  and  the  Indians  specified 

302  Article  xxxvii  of  the  Choctaw   and  Chickasaw  Treaty  [p.   320],   and 
Article  xxxii  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  [p.  402]. 

303  Article  xxxi  of  the   Creek   Treaty,  Article  XLVI  of  the   Choctaw    and 
Chickasaw  Treaty,  Article  xxxii  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  and  Article  xxxvi  of 
the  Cherokee  Treaty.     Note  that  the  enjoyment  of  the  privilege  by  the  Semin- 
ole Nation  was  to  be  conditioned  upon  its  own  establishment  of  regular  courts. 

304  There  were  also  secret  articles  to  some  of  the  treaties.     The  indications 
are  that  such  secret  articles  entailed  the  customary  bribery  of  chiefs  and  influ- 
ential men  upon  whose  support  depended  successful  negotiation. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  175 

were  to  have  the  same  rights  in  the  premises  as  the 
citizens  of  the  Confederate  States.  Osage805  streams 
and  water  courses  were,  however,  to  be  open  to  white 
people  but  not  conversely  Confederate  waters  to  the 
Osages.  The  clauses  in  treaties  of  the  First  Class,  em- 
bodying this  provision,  comprehended  all  navigable 
streams  whatsoever  but  had  particular  application  to 
the  Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers,  the  Choctaw306  and 
Chickasaw  to  the  former  and  the  Cherokee307  to  the 
latter.  The  rights  of  ferrying  on  these  streams  were 
to  be  open  alike  to  white  and  red  men  living  upon  their 
banks. 

The  second  provision  was  couched  in  terms  of  general 
amnesty.  The  Indians  were  to  forgive  wholesale  the 
citizens  of  the  individual  Confederate  states  for  their 
past  offences  and,  reciprocally,  the  states  were  to  forgive 
and. pardon  the  Indians  for  theirs,  or,  rather,  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Confederate  States  was  to  use  its  good 
offices  to  persuade  and  induce  them  to  do  so.308  The 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  contained,  in  addition 
to  this  general  clause,  a  particular  one  bringing  out 
again  the  close  connection  with  Texas  and  Arkansas. 
It  reads  thus : 

.  .  .  And  the  Confederate  States  will  especially  request 
the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Texas  to  grant  the  like  amnesty  as 
to  all  offences  committed  by  Choctaw  or  Chickasaw  against  the 
laws  of  those  States  respectively,  and  the  Governor  of  each  to 
reprieve  or  pardon  the  same,  if  necessary.309 

Some  evidence  of  the  special  interest  Texas  might 
have  in  the  matter  came  out  rather  prominently  in  the 

305  Article  vn  of  the  Osage  Treaty  [p.  364]. 

306  Article  xm  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  [p.  315]. 

307  Article  IX  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty  [p.  397]. 

308  Article  LXVI  of  the  Creek  Treaty,  Article  XLIV  of  the  Serainole,  Article 
LUI  of  the  Cherokee. 

309  Article  LXIV  [p.  330]. 


176     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

treaties  of  the  Third  Class,  the  amnesty  in  them  was 
particular  while  the  amnesty  in  the  treaties  of  the  other 
two  classes  was  general.  This  is  what  the  Wichita  and 
Comanche  say: 

It  is  distinctly  understood  by  the  said  several  tribes  and 
bands,  that  the  State  of  Texas  is  one  of  the  Confederate  States, 
and  joins  this  Convention,  and  signs  it  when  the  Commissioner 
signs  it,  and  is  bound  by  it;  and  all  hostilities  and  enmities  be- 
tween it  and  them  are  now  ended  and  are  to  be  forgotten  and 
forgiven  on  both  sides.810 

It  soon  developed  that  Texas  was  not  pleased  to  find 
her  consent  so  thoroughly  taken  for  granted  and  that 
the  Reserve  Indians  were  no  better  satisfied.  The  en- 
mity between  the  two  continued  as  before. 

As  regarded  the  relations  between  the  Indian  tribes 
and  the  Confederate  States  proper,  the  Pike  treaties 
were  old  law  in  so  far  as  they  duplicated  the  earlier 
United  States  treaty  arrangements  and  new  law  only 
in  so  far  as  they  met  conditions  incident  to  the  war. 
United  States  laws  and  treaties  were  specifically  con- 
tinued in  force  wherever  possible,  and,  in  most  cases, 
the  name  of  the  one  government  was  simply  substituted 
for  that  of  the  other.  Considerable  emphasis  was  laid 
upon  the  right  of  eminent  domain.  The  Indians  con- 
ceded to  the  Confederacy  the  power  to  establish  agency 
reserves,311  military  posts812  and  fortifications,  to  main- 

810  Article  XL  of  the  Wichita  Treaty  and  Article  x  of  the  Comanche. 

811  Article  xi  of  the  Creek  Treaty,  Article  xvi  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw  Treaty,  Article  xi  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  Article  XIII  of  the  Cherokee 
Treaty,  Article  iv  of  the  Osage  Treaty,  Article  v  of  the  Seneca  and  Shawnee 
Treaty,  and  Article  iv  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty. 

312  Article  XII  of  the  Creek  Treaty,  Article  xvn  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw  Treaty,  Article  xii  of  the  Seminole  Treaty,  Article  xiv  of  the  Cherokee 
Treaty,  Article  v  of  the  Osage  Treaty,  Article  VI  of  the  Seneca  and  Shawnee 
Treaty,  and  Article  v  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty.  After  the  war  the  posts  in  cer- 
tain specified  cases  were  to  be  garrisoned  by  native  troops. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  177 

tain  post  and  military  roads,313  and  to  grant  the  right 
of  way,314  upon  payment  of  an  indemnity,315  to  certain 
corporations  for  purposes  of  internal  improvement, 
mainly  railway  and  telegraph  lines.  Most  of  this 
would  have  contributed  very  materially  to  the  good  of 
the  southern  cause  in  guarding  one  of  the  approaches 
to  Texas  and  in  increasing  the  convenience  of  communi- 
cation. The  Confederate  States  assumed  the  wardship 
of  the  tribes,  exacted  a  pledge  of  loyalty  from  the 
weaker  and  one  of  alliance,316  offensive  and  defensive, 
but  without  the  entail  of  pecuniary  responsibility,  from 
the  stronger.  In  its  turn,  the  Confederacy  promised  to 
the  Indians  many  things,  deserving  of  serious  mention 
and  far  too  important  for  mere  enumeration.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  South  paid  pretty  dearly,  from  the 
view-point  of  historical  consistency,  for  its  Indian  alli- 
ance. In  the  light  of  Indian  political  history,  it  yielded 
far  more  than  at  first  glance  appears  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, the  great  tribes  gained  nearly  everything  that 
they  had  been  contending  for  for  half  a  century. 

As  has  just  been  intimated,  the  concessions  made  by 
the  Confederacy  to  the  Indians  were  somewhat  sig- 
nificant. In  addition  to  the  things  noted  a  few  para- 
graphs back,  congressional  delegates,  control  of  trade, 
and  others  of  like  import,  Pike,  the  lawyer  commis- 
sioner and  the  man  of  justice,  promised  the  establish- 
ment of  Confederate  States  courts  within  the  Indian 
country.  There  were  to  be  two  of  them,  one  in.  the 

313  The  reference  is  the  same  as  the  foregoing  with  two  exceptions ;  viz., 
Article  xxvm  of  the  Osage  Treaty  and  Article  xx  of  the  Quapaw  Treaty. 

314  Article  xm  of  the  Creek  Treaty,   Article  xvm  of  the    Choctaw   and 
Chickasaw  Treaty,  and  Article  xm  of  the  Seminole  Treaty. 

315  The  provision  in  the  Osage  Treaty  was  one  exception  to  this.     It  was 
definitely  said  there  that  there  should  be  no  compensation. 

316  The  details  of  this  will  come  out  in  the  chapter  following. 


178     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Choctaw  country317  and  one  in  the  Cherokee.318  They 
were  to  be  District  Courts  with  a  limited  Circuit  Court 
jurisdiction.  The  importance  of  the  concession  cannot 
well  be  over-estimated ;  for  it  struck  at  the  root  of  one 
of  the  chief  Indian  grievances.  The  territorial  extent 
of  the  districts  was  left  a  little  vague  and  the  jurisdiction 
was  not  fairly  distributed.  Here  again  we  have  an  illus- 
tration of  might  conditioning  right.  The  Osages,319  the 
Senecas  and  Shawnees,320  and  the  Quapaws321  were  all 
brought  within  the  limits  of  the  Cha-lah-ki,  or  Cher- 
okee district,  but  it  is  not  clear  that,  as  far  as  they 
were  concerned,  any  other  offences  than  those  against 
the  Fugitive  Slave322  laws,  were  to  come  within  the 

317  ARTICLE   xxxvni    (Choctaw   and    Chickasaw   Treaty).     In  order  to 
secure  the  due  enforcement  of  so  much  of  the  laws  of  the  Confederate 
States  in  regard  to  criminal  offences  and  misdemeanors  as  is  or  may  be 
in  force  in  the  said  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  country,  and  to  prevent 
the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  from  being  further  harassed  by  judicial 
proceedings  had  in  foreign  courts  and  before  juries  not  of  the  vicinage, 
the  said  country  is  hereby  erected  into  and  constituted  a  judicial  district 
of   the    Confederate   States   to  be  called  the  Tush-ca-hom-ma  District, 
for  the  special  purposes  and  jurisdiction  hereinafter  provided;  and  there 
shall  be  created  and  semi-annually  held,  within  such  district,  at  Boggy 
Depot,  a  district  court  of  the  Confederate  States,  with  the  powers  of  a 
circuit  court,  so  far  as  the  same  shall  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  this  treaty,  and  with  jurisdiction  co-extensive  with  the  limits 
of  such  district,  in  such  matters,  civil  and  criminal,  to  such  extent  and 
between  such  parties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  and  in  conformity  to 
the  terms  of  this  treaty  [p.  320]. 

Articles  xxxix,  XL,  XLI,  and  XLII  more  specifically  define  the  jurisdiction. 

318  See  Article  xxm  of  the  Cherokee  Treaty,  and,  for  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court,  see  Articles  xxiv,  xxv,  and  xxvi. 

319  Article  xxxv. 

320  Article  xxvi. 

321  Article  xxvi. 

322  In  other  ways  than  this,  the  treaties  with  the  minor  tribes  stressed  the 
"peculiar  institution."     Consider,  for  instance,  in  the  matter  of  extradition,  how 
it  was  not  the  criminal  generally,  but  only  the  fugitive  slave  that  was  to  be 
reciprocally  extradited.     Moreover,  as  a  rule,  the  weak  tribes  all  pledged  them- 
selves to  try  to  return  negroes  and  other  property  and  were  assured  that  ne- 
groes should  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  tribal  laws. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  179 

purview  of  the  court.  The  Wichitas  and  Comanches 
were  left  entirely  unassigned,  although  naturally,  they 
would  have  come  within  the  Tush-ca-hom-ma,  or  Choc- 
taw  district. 

The  Confederacy  reinstituted  the  agency  system  and 
continued  it  with  modifications.  These  modifications 
were  in  line  with  reiterated  complaints  of  the  Indians. 
They  restricted  the  government  patronage  to  some  ex- 
tent and,  in  certain  instances,  allowed  a  good  deal  of 
tribal  control.  As  a  general  thing,  to  each  tribe  was 
allowed  one  agent  and  to  each  language,  one  interpreter. 
An  exception  to  the  first  provision  was  to  be  found 
wherever  it  had  been  found  under  the  earlier  regime. 
Thus  there  was  a  single  agent  for  the  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws,  another  for  the  fragmentary  tribes  of  the 
Leased  District,  and  another  for  those  of  the  Neosho 
River  country.  In  the  minor  treaties,  it  was  stipulated, 
for  very  evident  and  very  sound  reasons,  most  of  them 
based  upon  experiences  of  past  neglect,  that  the  agent 
should  be  faithful  in  the  performance  of  his  duties,  that 
he  should  reside  at  his  agency  continually,  and  never 
be  absent  for  long  at  a  time  or  without  good  and  suffi- 
cient cause. 

There  were  also  certain  things  the  Indians  were  for- 
bidden to  do,  many  of  them  familiar  to  us  in  any  ordi- 
nary Bill  of  Rights  and  having  reference  to  ex-post 
facto  laws,  laws  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts, 
due  process  of  law,  and  the  like.  The  Confederacy, 
in  turn,  bound  itself  not  to  allow  farming  on  govern- 
ment reserves  or  settlement  there  except  under  certain 
conditions  and  not  to  treat323  with  Cherokee  factions. 
It  inserted  into  the  treaties  with  the  minor  tribes  the 
usual  number  of  civilization  clauses,  promising  agri- 

323  Article  II  [p.  395]. 


180     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

cultural  and  industrial  support;  and  into  the  Cherokee 
some  things  that  were  entirely  new,  notably  a  provision 
that  the  congressional  delegation  from  each  of  the  great 
tribes  should  have  the  right  to  nominate  a  youth  to 
membership  in  any  military  academy  that  might  be 
established.324  It  also  promised  to  maintain  a  postal 
system  throughout  the  Indian  country,  one  that  should 
be,  in  every  particular,  a  part  of  the  postal  system  of 
the  Confederate  States  with  the  same  rates,  stamps,  and 
so  on.  To  the  Cherokees,  it  promised  the  additional 
privilege325  of  having  the  postmasters  selected  and  ap- 
pointed from  among  their  own  people.  From  the  fore- 
going analysis  of  the  treaties,  it  is  clearly  seen  that  the 
characteristic  feature  of  them  all  was  conciliation  and 
conciliation  written  very,  very  large.  Of  the  great 
tribes,  the  Confederacy  asked  an  alliance  full  and  com- 
plete ;  of  the  middle  tribes,  such  as  the  Osage,  it  asked 
a  limited  alliance  and  peace;  and  of  the  most  insig- 
nificant tribes  it  asked  simply  peace  but  that  it  was 
prepared,  not  only  to  ask,  but,  if  need  be,  to  demand. 
Between  the  Cherokees  and  the  Wichitas,  there  was  a 
wide,  wide  gulf  and  one  that  could  be  measured  only 
in  terms  of  political  and  military  importance. 

So  much  for  the  contents  of  the  treaties  but  what 
about  the  detailed  history  of  their  negotiation?  When 
Albert  Pike  first  came  within  reach  of  the  Indian  coun- 
try, he  communicated326  officially  or  semi-officially 

324  Article  LH  [p.  410]. 

325  Article  xxxix  [p.  403]. 

326  Without  doubt  some  preliminary  sounding  of  Leeper  must  have  preceded 
the    accompanying    document.    Pike    would    hardly   have    written   with   such 
assurance  or  given  such  instructions  unless  he  had  been  very  sure  of  his  ground. 

FORT  SMITH,  ARKANSAS,  26th  May  1861. 

SIR:  I  have  been  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  Commissioner  to  the  Indian  Tribes  West  of  Arkansas, 
with  discretionary  powers,  for  the  purpose  of  making  treaties  of  alii- 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  181 

with  the  men  belonging  or  recently  belonging  to  the 
Indian  field  service,  agents  and  agency  employees,  or, 
at  least,  with  those  of  them  that  were  known  as  Con- 
federate sympathizers.  A  few  very  necessary  changes 

ance  with  them,  and  of  enlisting  troops  to  act  with  the  forces  of  the 
Confederate  States. 

In  the  exercise  of  the  powers  entrusted  to  me,  I  hereby  authorize  and 
request  you  to  exercise  the  powers  of  Agent  for  the  Wichitas  and  other 
Indians  in  the  Country  leased  from  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  until 
you  shall  receive  a  regular  commission  therefor.  Your  compensation 
will  be  the  same  as  that  received  from  the  United  States,  to  commence 
from  the  day  when  you  resigned  as  agent  of  the  United  States. 

And  you  are  hereby  instructed  forthwith  to  repair  to  your  agency, 
and  to  inform  the  Indians  under  your  charge  that  the  Confederate  States 
of  America  will  take  you  themselves  and  fully  comply  with  all  the  obli- 
gations entered  into  by  the  United  States  in  their  behalf;  securing  and 
paying  all  that  may  be  due  them  from  injury;  and  especially  that  they 
will  continue  to  supply  them  with  rations,  as  it  has  heretofore  been 
done,  until  they  shall  no  longer  need  to  be  supplied. 

You  will  also  please  inform  them  that  I  shall  in  a  short  time  be 
among  them,  to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  them,  on  the  part  of  the  Con- 
federate States. 

You  will  impress  upon  them  that  the  people  of  Texas  are  now  a  part 
of  the  Confederate  States,  and  must  no  longer  be  looked  upon  as  enemies: 
and  if  any  troops  from  Texas  should  come  within  your  jurisdiction,  you 
will  particularly  warn  them  against  doing  any  harm  to  the  Indians  un- 
der your  charge. 

You  will  make  known  to  the  Delawares,  and  if  practicable  to  the 
Kickapoos,  that  it  is  my  desire,  and  I  have  authority,  to  enlist  a  battalion 
of  350  men,  of  the  Delawares,  Kickapoos,  and  Shawnees,  and  will  es- 
pecially assure  the  Kickapoos,  that  if  they  have  any  cause  of  complaint 
against  any  of  the  people  of  Texas,  it  will  be  inquired  into,  and  repara- 
tion made,  and  that  they  must  in  no  case  commit  any  act  of  hostility 
against  Texas. 

I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  all  assistance  you  can  render 
in  securing  the  services  in  arms  of  the  Kickapoos  and  Delawares.  They 
will  be  paid  like  other  mounted  men,  receiving  40  cents  a  day  for  use 
and  risk  of  their  horse,  in  addition  to  their  pay,  rations,  and  clothing. 

I  need  not  say  that  I  place  much  reliance  on  your  zeal  and  intelligence 
and  assure  you  that  your  services  will  not  fail  to  be  appreciated  by  the 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States.  Most  respectfully  yours 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Commr  C.S.A.  to  the 
Indian  Tribes,  West  of  Arkansas. 
Matthew  Leeper  Esq. 

Leeper  Papers. 


182     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

had  been  made  in  the  service  with  the  inauguration  of 
President  Lincoln  but  the  changes  were  not  always  such 
as  could,  in  any  wise,  have  strengthened  the  Federal 
position.  First,  as  regards  the  southern  superintend- 
ency,  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  find  a  successor  to 
Elias  Rector327  at  about  the  same  time  that  Harrison 

327  It  is  not  clear  as  to  just  when  Elias  Rector  left  the  United  States  ser- 
vice or  when  he  entered  the  Confederate.  The  Indian  Office  in  Washington 
was  communicating  with  him  officially  for  some  little  time  after  Griffith  had 
been  notified  of  his  appointment.  There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Rector 
was  working  in  the  interests  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  all  through  the 
spring  of  1861 ;  and,  when  he  went  over  openly  to  the  South,  he  did  not  close 
his  accounts  with  the  United  States  Indian  Office.  He  was  accordingly  re- 
garded as  a  defaulter  and  there  was  talk  of  confiscating  his  property  at  Fort 
Smith  [W.  G.  Coffin  to  Dole,  January  29,  1864,  General  Files,  Southern  Su- 
perintendency,  1863-1864,  1640;  Dole  to  Usher,  February  2,  1864,  Indian  Office, 
Report  Book,  no.  13,  p.  297]. 

In  the  course  of  his  official  connection  with  the  United  States  government 
Elias  Rector  had  frequently  been  accused  of  irregularities  and  even  of  crook- 
edness [General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  €1222].  As 
touching  the  Seminole  removal  from  Florida,  he  had  much  that  was  peculiar 
to  explain  away.  Apparently  he  quite  frequently  made  queer  contracts,  was 
given  to  making  over-charges  for  mileage  and  to  favoring  his  friends  at  the 
expense  of  the  Indians  and  of  the  government.  In  1861,  he  rendered  a  vouch- 
er showing  he  had  paid  a  certain  Henry  Pape  $6000.00  for  building  the 
Wichita  Agency  house.  On  various  matters  connected  with  his  official  record, 
see  Rector's  Letter  Press  Book  and  Indian  Office,  Letter  Books,  no.  64,  p.  342; 
no.  65,  p.  49;  no.  66,  p.  26.  In  1865,  Rector  made  application  to  be  allowed 
to  straighten  out  his  accounts  [J.  B.  Luce  to  Cooley,  November  2,  1865]. 

Returning,  however,  to  the  subject  of  Rector's  incumbency:  on  the  twelfth 
of  June,  1861,  he  wrote  quite  frankly  to  John  Schoenmaker,  principal  of  the 
Osage  Mission, 

.  .  .  I  have  no  connection  at  this  time  with  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment under  the  old  U.  S.  Government.  I  am  now  acting  as  Superin- 
tendent under  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  as  no 
treaties  have  as  yet  been  concluded  between  the  Southern  confederacy 
and  the  tribes  of  Indians  with  whom  you  are  engaged  I  of  course  can 
say  nothing  to  you  on  the  subject  matter  of  your  letter.  .  .  -  General 
Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862. 

The  Confederate  southern  superintendency  had  not  at  the  time  been  filled, 
but  Rector  seems  to  have  been  considered  the  most  competent  candidate. 
Johnson,  in  recommending  various  men  to  Walker  for  various  positions,  rec- 
ommended Rector  in  strong  terms  of  implied  commendation, 

Dr.   Griffith  wants   to   be   appointed   superintendent  in   place  of  E. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  183 

B.  Branch328  of  Missouri  had  been  appointed  central 
superintendent  in  the  stead  of  A.  M.  Robinson.  The 
man  chosen  was  Samuel  L.  Griffith329  of  Fort  Smith 
to  whom  the  new  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Caleb  B. 
Smith,  telegraphed  on  the  fifth  of  April,  tendering  the 
position.  Similarly  by  wire,  on  the  ninth,  Griffith 
accepted;  and,  on  the  tenth,  explained330  the  delay  in 
the  following  letter: 

Being  a  member  of  our  State  Convention  on  the  Union  side,  I 
hesitated  a  day  or  two,  as  to  the  propriety  of  accepting,  fearing 
it  might  affect  the  union  cause,  but  on  mature  deliberation  and 
counsel  with  union  friends,  and  on  the  receipt  of  a  memorial 
signed  by  a  large  number  of  names  of  men  of  all  parties,  I  con- 
cluded to  accept.  .  . 

Col.  W.  H.  Garret  Agt.  for  the  Creeks,  passed  through  this 
place  on  the  8th.  .  . 

Col.  S.  Rutherford  left  here  this  morning  for  his  agency 
(the  Seminole).  I  desired  him  to  ascertain  on  his  way  through 
the  Creek  and  Choctaw  Nations,  the  facts,  as  to  the  rumor  that 
two  men  from  Texas  were  in  the  Creek  Nation  for  the  purpose 
of  meeting  the  several  nations  in  Council  &c.  and  to  report  to 
me  immediately.  .  . 

Dr.  Griffith's  solicitude  for  the  Union  interests  appar- 

Rector.  Do  not  allow  this  to  be  done.  Hold  everything  as  it  is  until 
peace  and  unity  are  attained,  and  then  make  all  the  changes  you  think 
proper ;  but  not  now  -  not  now,  by  all  manner  of  means. 

I  do  earnestly  beg  you  to  keep  your  agencies  as  they  were.  They 
are  good  and  true  men,  and  popular  and  qualified  with  the  tribes  and 
their  business.  Restore  and  commission  Elias  Rector,  superintendent; 
John  Crawford,  Cherokee  agent;  William  Quesenbury,  Creek  agent; 
Samuel  M.  Rutherford,  Seminole  agent;  and  Matthew  Leeper,  Wichita 
agent;  and  if  Cooper  has  resigned  (which  I  fear  is  the  case),  appoint 
Richard  P.  Pulliam  (who  is  the  next  best  living  man  on  earth  for  the 
place,  I  believe)  as  agent  of  the  Choctaws.  With  this  programme  you 
will  have  peace  and  success;  without  it,  no  one  can  tell  your  troubles 
or  our  misfortunes  on  this  frontier.  .  .  -  Official  Records,  first  sen, 
vol.  iii,  598. 

328  Dole  to  Robinson,  April  9,  1861  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  65,  323]. 

329  Dole  to  Rector,  April  6,  1861  {—ibid.,  p.  317]. 

330  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  6463. 


184     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ently  soon  vanished.  On  the  twentieth  of  April,  he 
wrote331  that,  "under  the  circumstances,"  he  could  not 
hold  office.  Coffin  of  Indiana  was  then  selected332  for 
the  place  of  southern  superintendent  and,  in  a  very 
little  while,  Griffith  was  among  the  applicants333  for 
the  corresponding  position  in  the  Confederate  States. 
Between  the  dates  of  the  two  activities,  morever,  he  had 
been  appointed  by  the  Arkansas  Convention  one  of  the 
three  special  agents  to  interview  the  Indian  tribes  in 
the  interests  of  secession.  That  was  on  the  tenth  of 
May. 

The  changes  in  the  agency  incumbents  proved  equally 
temporary  and  unfortunate.  Particularly  was  this  the 
case  with  two  determined334  upon  on  the  sixth  of  April. 
Four  days  later,  William  Quesenbury335  of  Fayetteville, 
Arkansas  was  notified  that  he  had  been  appointed  to 
succeed  William  H.  Garrett  as  agent  for  the  Creeks, 
and  John  Crawford336  of  the  same  place  that  he  had 
been  appointed  to  succeed  Robert  J.  Cowart  as  agent 
for  the  Cherokees.  Both  went  over  to  the  Confederacy. 
Nothing  else  could  well  have  been  expected  of  Craw- 
ford, or  of  Quesenbury  either  for  that  matter,  and  it  is 
rather  surprising  that  their  past  records  were  not  more 
thoroughly  examined.  Quesenbury,  like  Richard  P. 
Pulliam,  was  a  sort  of  protege  of  Elias  Rector. 
Pulliam  had  been  Rector's  clerk  in  the  office  and 

331  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  6463. 

332  Smith  to  Dole,  May  4,  1861;  Dole  to  Rector,  May  9,  1861  [Indian  Office, 
Letter  Book,  no.  65,  p.  440]. 

333  Johnson  to  Walker,  June  25,   1861   [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii, 

598]. 

334  Caleb  B.  Smith  to  Dole,  April  6,  1861   [General  Files,  Southern  Super- 
intendency, 1859-1862']. 

335  Dole  to   Quesenbury   [Indian   Office,   Letter  Book,  no.  65,  p.  330].     In 
the  middle  of  the  summer,  George  A.  Cutler  became  United  States  agent  for 
the  Creeks  {ibid.,  no.  66,  p.  200]. 

336  Dole  to  Crawford  [ibid.,  no.  65,  p.  331]. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  185 

Quesenbury  his  clerk  in  the  field.337  Crawford  had  been 
very  prominent338  in  the  Arkansas  legislature  the  pre- 
ceding winter  in  the  expression  of  ideas  and  sentiments 
hostile  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  accepted  the  office  of 
Cherokee  agent  under  Lincoln,  notwithstanding,  and  he 
subsequently  said339  that  he  did  so  because  the  Indians 
would  not  have  liked  a  northern  man  to  come  among 
them.  Before  Crawford's  commission  arrived,  Cowart 
had  departed340  and  Cherokee  affairs  were  in  dire  con- 
fusion.341 John  J.  Humphreys342  of  Tennessee  had 

337  Rector  to  Greenwood,  August  31,  1860  [Letter  Press  Book}. 

338  November  27,  1860,  he  voted  in  the  affirmative  on  a  resolution  against 
Lincoln's  election  and  against  the  advisability  of  Arkansas  members  of  Con- 
gress taking  their  seats  during  his   administration   [Arkansas  House  Journal, 
thirteenth  session,  1860-1861,  p.  234]. 

339  On  the  thirteenth  of  June,   when  Crawford  wrote,  resigning  his  com- 
mission, he  said  in  extenuation  of  his  conduct, 

I  only  accepted  through  the  influence  of  friends  knowing  then  the 
Cherokee  Indians  was  Southern  in  their  feelings  and  did  not  wish  a 
Northern  man  sent  among  them  to  act  as  Agent  &  as  the  Government 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy  has  in  their  wisdom  thought  best  to  take 
charge  of  all  the  Indian  Tribes  south  of  Kansas  and  the  Indians  all  be- 
ing anxious  to  join  in  with  the  South  and  oppose  to  the  bitter  end  the 
course  now  pursued  by  the  Northern  Government  - 1  most  respectfully 
decline  acting  as  agent  for  the  Cherokee  Indians  under  the  Adminis- 
tration of  A.  Lincoln.  -  CRAWFORD  to  Dole,  June  13,  1861  [General  Files, 
Cherokee,  1859-1865,  Ci376]. 

340  Crawford  to  Dole,  May  20,  1861   [ibid.]. 

341  The  excitement  here  is  at  an  alarming  pitch  for  the  last  few  days 
I  trust  to  God  that  those  in  power  will  do  something  to  settle  this  in- 
terruption in  the  government  and  something  must  be  done  soon  or  War 
will   ensue      troops  were  drilling  here  last  night  at  ten   oclock,    State 
troops,  strong  talk  of  attacking  Fort  Smith      the  President  of  the  Con- 
vention has  called  the  Convention  to  meet  on  the  6th  day  of  May  and 
the  State  will  seceed  if  there  is  not  something  done  immediately      per- 
haps war  will  be  commenced  before  you  receive  my  letter  though  I  trust 
not.     I  should  very  much  to  know  that  the  North  and  South  were  en- 
gaged in  a  war,  if  you  can  do  anything  to  have  those  troubles  settled 
use  your  influence  with  the  President  in  calling  a  national  convention 
or  something  else  to  have  peace.     .    .  -  CRAWFORD  to  Dole,  dated  Van 
Buren,  April  21,  1861  [General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  Cic>44]. 

342  Smith   to   Dole,   April    20,    1861    [General   Files,    Wichita,    1860-1861, 
1320]. 


1 86     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

meanwhile  been  offered  the  Wichita  Agency3*3  and 
Peter  P.  Elder344  of  Kansas,  the  Neosho  River.  The 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Agency  seems  to  have  been 
left  vacant.  Truth  to  tell,  there  was  no  longer  any  such 
agency  under  United  States  control.  Cooper  had 
thrown  in  his  lot  with  the  secessionists  and  was  already 
working  actively  in  their  cause. 

The  defection  of  Douglas  H.  Cooper,  United  States 
agent  for  the  Choctaws  and  the  Chickasaws,  can  not  be 
passed  by  so  very  lightly;  for  it  had  such  far  reaching 
effects.  The  time  came  during  and  after  the  war,  when 
the  United  States  Indian  Office  came  to  have  in  its 
possession  various  documents3*5  that  proved  conclu- 
sively that  Douglas  H.  Cooper  had  been  most  instru- 
mental in  organizing  the  secession  movement  among  the 
Indians  of  at  least  his  own  agency.  It  was  even  re- 
ported3*6 that  material  was  forthcoming  to  show  how 
he  "was  engaged  in  raising  troops  for  the  Rebel  Army, 
during  the  months  of  April,  May,  and  June,  1861,  while 
holding  the  office  of  U.S.  Indian  Agent."  His  suc- 
cessor had  been  appointed  considerably  before  the  end 
of  that  time,  however,  and,  when  the  war  was  over,  the 
Indians  themselves  exonerated  him  from  all  responsi- 
bility in  the  matter  of  their  own  defection.347  Not- 
withstanding, he  most  certainly  did  manifest  unusual 
activity  in  behalf  of  the  slaveholding  power.  Even  his 

343  Some  slight  account  of  the  Wichita  Agency  and  of  Agent  Leeper's  de- 
fection has  already  been  narrated.     A  number  of  documents  elucidating  the 
subject  are  to  be  found  in  the  "Appendix." 

344  Dole  to  Elder,  April  29,  1861    [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  65,  pp. 
390-391]  ;  Mix  to  Elder,  August  22,  1861  [ibid.,  no.  66,  pp.  283-284]. 

345  See,  for  instance,  Stockton  to  Usher,  February  20,  1864   [General  Files, 
Southern  Superintendency,  1863-1864], 

346  See  Isaac  Coleman,  United  States  Indian  agent,  to  Superintendent  Elijah 
Sells,  a  copy  of  which  letter   is  retained  in  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  the 
original  having  been  sent  to  the  office  of  the  United  States  attorney-general, 
October  10,  1865. 

347  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  pp.  310,  345. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  187 

motives  for  manifesting  activity  are,  in  a  sense,  im- 
pugned as  instanced  by  the  following  most  extraordi- 
nary letter,  which,  written  by  Cooper  to  Rector  pri- 
vately and  in  confidence  and  later  transmitted  to  Wash- 
ington out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  official  business,  has 
already  been  quoted  once  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
correct  estimate  of  the  recipient's  character.  It  is  grat- 
ifying to  know  that  such  letters  are  very  rare  in  connec- 
tion with  the  history  of  the  American  Civil  War. 

Private  &  Confidential 

[Copy]  FORT  SMITH  May  ist  1861. 

MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR 

Dr.  Sir:  I  have  concluded  to  act  upon  the  suggestion  yours 
of  the  28th  Ultimo  contains. 

If  we  work  this  thing  shrewdly  we  can  make  a  fortune  each, 
satisfy  the  Indians,  stand  fair  before  the  North,  and  revel  in 
the  unwavering  confidence  of  our  Southern  Confederacy. 

My  share  of  the  eighty  thousand  in  gold  348  you  can  leave  on 
deposite  with  Meyer  Bro.  subject  to  my  order.  Write  me  soon. 

COOPER. 

348  The  reference  is,  presumably,  to  a  portion  of  the  money  that  the  United 
States  government  had  allowed  the  Choctaws  in  satisfaction  of  claims  arising 
under  the  treaties  of  1830  and  1855  [Act  of  March  2,  1861,  U.  S.  Statutes  at 
Large,  vol.  xii,  238].  The  episode  of  the  Corn  Contract  was  directly  con- 
nected with  the  expenditure  of  the  money.  For  documents  bearing  upon  it, 
see  Land  Files,  Choctaiv,  1874-1876,  Box  39,  CiojS,  particularly  documents 
labelled  "N,"  "O,"  and  "P."  Document  "N"  is  a  communication  from  Albert 
Pike  to  the  General  Council  of  the  Choctaw  Nation,  received  at  the  June  ses- 
sion, 1861,  and  is  most  interesting  as  showing  how  Pike  mixed  up  private  and 
public  business  and,  indeed,  gave  to  private  the  preference. 

FRIENDS  AND  BROTHERS:  You  are  aware  that  since  the  year  1854 
Mr  John  T.  Cochrane  and  myself,  aided  by  Col.  Cooper  your  agent  and 
by  your  delegates,  have  been  engaged  at  Washington  in  prosecuting  the 
just  claims  of  your  people  under  the  treaty  of  1830  before  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States. 

We  have  succeeded  in  procuring  a  final  award  of  the  Senate,  giving 
you  the  net  proceeds  of  all  the  lands  which  you  ceded  by  that  treaty,  and 
a  Report  from  the  Committee  of  Indian  Affairs,  estimating  the  sum  due 
you  at  over  two  millions  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

At  the  last  session  of  Congress,   we  succeeded  in  procuring  an   ap- 


38     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 
When  Captain  Pike 349  reached  the  North  Fork  Vil- 


propriation  on  account  of  this  debt  of  $250,000  in  money  and  $250,000 
in  bonds  of  the  United  States. 

Owing  to  the  unfortunate  difficulties  between  the  Northern  and  South- 
ern States,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars,  only,  of  the 
sums,  has  been  paid,  $135,000  of  which  was  placed  in  your  Agent's 
hands,  ostensibly  to  purchase  corn ;  and  most  of  it  remains  unexpended. 

Towards  my  expenses  while  prosecuting  your  claims  and  towards 
my  fee,  I  have  received  the  sum  of  sixteen  hundred  dollars.  My  ex- 
penses alone,  in  four  years  have  been  five  thousand  dollars. 

I  have  had  to  abandon  my  other  business,  to  attend  to  yours:  and  un- 
less some  part  of  my  compensation  is  paid,  or  my  expenses  repaid  me, 
my  property  will  have  to  be  sold  to  pay  my  debts.  I  am  entirely 
without  money,  and  have  you  only  to  look  to. 

I  have  labored  for  you  very  faithfully;  and  am  sure  your  Delegates 
will  tell  you  that,  but  for  me  your  claims  would  never  have  been  al- 
lowed; and  but  for  me,  after  they  were  allowed,  the  appropriation 
would  not  have  been  obtained. 

The  whole  of  the  claims  will  be  paid  whenever  peace  is  restored, 
either  by  the  United  States,  or  by  the  Confederate  Southern  States.  I 
shall  take  it  in  charge  and  never  desert  you  until  all  is  paid. 

I  respectfully  and  earnestly  request  you  to  cause  to  be  paid  to  me, 
out  of  the  moneys  now  in  the  Agent's  hands,  for  my  expenses,  and  on 
account  of  my  fee,  such  sum  of  money  as  you  may  think  just  and  right; 
and  which  I  hope  will  not  be  less  than  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars. 

I  also  desire  to  inform  you  that  I  have  been  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  Confederate  States,  a  Commissioner  to  your  Nation,  and 
all  the  other  Nations  and  Tribes  west  of  Arkansas ;  that  I  shall  at  the 
proper  time  come  among  you  to  counsel  with  you,  and  that  I  shall  take 
your  interests  in  charge,  and  see  that  your  title  to  your  lands,  and  all 
annuities,  and  other  moneys  due  you  by  the  United  States  are  assumed 
and  guaranteed  by  the  Confederate  States.  On  this  you  may  implicitly 
rely;  as  it  is  the  promise  of  one  who  never  breaks  his  word. 

Let  your  people  therefore,  and  the  Chickasaws  remain  perfectly  quiet 
until  the  proper  time  arrives,  and  look  to  me  for  advice.  If  any  em- 
issaries from  Arkansas  come  among  you,  hear  them  and  say  nothing. 
So  it  is  that  wise  men  do.  The  State  of  Arkansas  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  you,  and  cannot  protect  you.  The  Confederate  States  are 
both  able  and  willing  to  do  so;  and  when  they  have  guaranteed  your 
rights,  it  will  be  time  enough  for  you  to  act.  Your  friend 

(signed)  ALBERT  PIKE. 
Office  of  the  National  Secretary  of  the  Choctaw  Nation. 

[Endorsement]  I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy 
from  the  original  letter  from  Albert  Pike  on  file  in  the  National  Secre- 
tary's Office. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy 


lage,  very  probably  still  attended  by  the  escort  that  the 

Given  under  my  hand  and  official  seal.  Done  at  Chahta  Tamaha, 
November  Ist  A.D.  1873. 

(signed)  JNO.  P.  TURNBULL,  National  Secretary  Choctaw  Nation. 
349  Pike's  programme  of  operations  is  outlined  in  his  letter  to  Toombs  of 
May  29,  1861: 

SIR:  I  leave  this  morning  for  Tahlequah,  the  seat  of  government  of 
the  Cherokee  Nation,  and  Park  Hill,  the  residence  of  Governor  Ross, 
the  principal  chief.  Since  1835  there  have  always  been  two  parties  in 
the  Cherokee  Nation,  bitterly  hostile  to  each  other.  The  treaty  of  that 
year  was  made  by  unauthorized  persons,  against  the  will  of  the  large 
majority  of  the  nation  and  against  that  of  the  chief,  Mr.  Ross.  Several 
years  ago  Ridge,  Boudinot,  and  others,  principal  men  of  the  treaty 
party,  were  killed,  with,  it  was  alleged,  the  sanction  of  Mr.  Ross,  and 
the  feud  is  today  as  bitter  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  The  full-blooded 
Indians  are  mostly  adherents  of  Ross,  and  many  of  them-  1,000  to  1,500 
it  is  alleged  -  are  on  the  side  of  the  North.  I  think  that  number  is  ex- 
aggerated. The  half-breeds  or  white  Indians  (as  they  call  themselves) 
are  to  a  man  with  us.  It  has  all  along  been  supposed,  or  at  least  sus- 
pected, that  Mr.  Ross  would  side  with  the  North.  His  declarations  are 
in  favor  of  neutrality.  But  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  he  is  acting 
upon  the  policy  (surely  a  wise  one)  of  not  permitting  his  people  to  com- 
mit themselves  until  he  has  formal  guarantees  from  an  authorized  agent 
of  the  Confederate  States.  These  I  shall  give  him  if  he  will  accept 
them.  General  McCulloch  will  be  with  me,  and  I  strongly  hope  that 
we  shall  satisfy  him,  and  effect  a  formal  and  firm  treaty.  If  so,  we 
shall  have  nearly  the  whole  nation  with  us,  and  those  who  are  not  will 
be  unimportant.  If  he  refuses  he  will  learn  that  his  country  will  be  oc- 
cupied ;  and  I  shall  then  negotiate  with  the  leaders  of  the  half-breeds 
who  are  now  raising  troops,  and  who  will  meet  me  at  the  Creek  Agency 
on  Friday  of  next  week.  Several  of  those  living  near  here  I  have  al- 
ready seen. 

On  Wednesday  of  next  week  I  will  meet  the  chiefs  of  the  Creeks  at 
the  North  Fork  of  the  Canadian.  I  will  then  fix  a  day  for  a  council  of 
the  Creeks,  and  go  on  to  meet  the  Choctaws  at  Fort  Washita.  When  I 
shall  have  concluded  an  arrangement  with  them  I  will  go  to  the  Chick- 
asaw  Country,  and  thence  to  the  Seminoles. 

I  hope  to  meet  the  heads  of  the  Wichitas,  Caddos,  lowas,  Toncawes, 
Delawares,  Kickapoos,  and  Reserve  Comanches  at  Fort  Washita.  I  have 
requested  their  agent  to  induce  them  to  meet  me  there.  The  Creek 
chiefs  have  a  council  with  the  wild  Indians,  Comanches  and  others, 
high  up  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  Canadian,  on  the  loth  proximo.  I 
shall  endeavor,  through  the  Creek  chiefs,  to  have  an  interview  with  the 
heads  of  the  wild  tribes  at  Fort  Washita  and  induce  them  to  come  in 
and  settle  on  the  reserve  upon  the  False  Washita  River  near  Fort  Cobb. 

As  I  shall  be  absent  from  this  post  some  six  weeks  or  more,  it  is  not 


190     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Military  Board  of  Arkansas  had  graciously-or  per- 
haps officially  since  Pike,  according  to  his  own  con- 
likely  that  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  frequent  advice  of  ray  move- 
ments.   There  are  no  mails  in  the  Indian  country  and  I  shall  have  to 
employ  expresses  when  I  desire  to  send  on  letters. 

We  shall  have  no  difficulty  with  the  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Choctaws, 
and  Chickasaws,  either  in  effecting  treaties  or  raising  troops.  The 
greatest  trouble  will  be  in  regard  to  arms.  Not  one  in  ten  of  either  of 
the  tribes  has  a  gun  at  all,  and  most  of  the  guns  are  indifferent  double- 
barreled.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  is  a  part 
of  the  Department  of  State,  and  of  course  whether  this  is  properly  ad- 
dressed to  you.  I  do  not  address  the  Commissioner  because  I  under- 
stand he  is  on  his  way  hither.  The  suggestions  I  wish  to  make  are  im- 
portant and  I  venture  to  hope  that  you  will  give  them  their  proper 
direction.  I  have  already  spoken  of  arms  for  the  Indians.  Those  arms, 
if  possible,  should  be  the  plain  muzzle-loading  rifle,  large  bore,  with 
molds  for  conical  bullets  hollowed  at  the  truncated  end,  which  I  suppose 
to  be  the  minie-ball.  Revolvers,  I  am  aware,  cannot  be  had,  and  an 
Indian  would  not  pick  up  a  musket  if  it  lay  in  the  road. 

Our  river  is  falling  and  will  soon  be  low,  when  steam-boats  will  not 
be  able  to  get  above  Little  Rock,  if  even  there.  To  embody  the  Indians 
and,  collecting  them  together,  keep  them  long  without  arms  would  dis- 
gust them,  and  they  would  scatter  over  the  country  like  partridges  and 
never  be  got  together  again.  The  arms  should,  therefore,  be  sent  here 
with  all  speed. 

No  funds  have  been  remitted  to  me,  nor  have  I  any  power  to  pro- 
cure or  draw  for  any,  for  my  expenses  or  for  those  of  the  councils  I 
must  hold.  It  has  always  been  customary  for  the  Indians  to  be  fed  at 
such  councils,  and  they  will  expect  it.  I  have  borrowed  $30x3  of  Mr. 
Charles  B.  Johnson,  giving  him  a  draft  on  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  for  incidental  expenses,  and  if  I  have  a  council  at  Fort  Washita 
shall  contract  with  him  to  feed  the  Indians.  I  have  seen  Elias  Rector, 
late  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  at  Fort  Smith,  and  William  Quesen- 
bury,  appointed  agent  for  the  Creeks  by  the  Government  at  Washing- 
ton, but  who  did  not  accept,  and  Samuel  M.  Rutherford,  agent  for  the 
Seminoles,  who  forwards  his  resignation  immediately;  and  have  writ- 
ten to  Matthew  Leeper,  agent  for  the  Wichitas  and  other  Reserve  In- 
dians; and  have  formally  requested  each  to  continue  to  exercise  the 
powers  of  his  office  under  the  Confederate  States.  They  are  all  citizens 
of  Arkansas  and  Texas  and  have  readily  consented  to  do  so. 

If  we  have  declared  a  protectorate  over  these  tribes  and  extended 
our  laws  over  them  we  have,  I  suppose,  continued  in  force  there  the 
whole  system.  Even  if  we  have  not  we  cannot  dispense  with  the  super- 
intendent and  agents.  I  shall  also  see  Mr.  Crawford,  agent  for  the 
Cherokees,  and  request  him  to  continue  to  act,  as  I  have  requested 
Colonel  Cooper  to  do  as  agent  for  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws.  Un- 
less all  this  were  done  there  would  be  both  discontent  and  confusion, 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  191 

fession,  was  acting  as  commissioner  from  Arkansas350  as 
well  as  from  the  Confederacy- furnished351  him,332  he 
found  the  Creeks  awaiting  his  approach  with  some 
anxiety.  Among  them  were  Motey  Kennard,353  prin- 

and  I  therefore  earnestly  request  that  my  action  may  be  immediately 
confirmed  and  these  officers  assured  that  they  shall  be  continued,  and 
that  their  compensation  shall  be  the  same  as  under  the  United  States 
and  date  from  the  day  of  the  resignation  of  each  or  of  his  acceptance  of 
office  under  the  Confederate  States.  And  I  also  strenuously  urge  that  no 
changes  be  made  in  these  offices.  The  incumbents  are  all  good  men  and 
true,  competent,  and  honest,  and  are,  or  will  be,  very  acceptable  to  the 
Indians.  To  make  changes  will  be  to  make  mischief. 

Mr.  Charles  B.  Johnson  is  feeding  the  Wichitas  and  other  Reserve 
Indians  under  a  contract  which  ends  on  the  3<>th  of  June.  I  have  in- 
structed him  to  continue  feeding  them  during  the  present  season  under 
the  same  contract,  i.e.,  on  the  same  terms,  which  I  know  to  be  reasonable. 

It  is  very  important  that  some  funds  should  be  at  my  disposition. 
The  State  of  Arkansas  has  furnished  me  an  escort  of  a  company  and 
General  McCulloch  has  procured  me  transportation.  To  meet  contin- 
gent expenses  it  is  necessary  that  at  least  $1000  should  be  placed  here 
subject  to  my  draft;  and,  as  I  have  several  times  urged,  money  should 
be  placed  in  the  proper  hands  to  pay  a  bounty  to  each  Indian  that  en- 
lists. 

I  wish  I  had  more  definite  instructions  and  power  more  distinctly 
expressed,  especially  power  in  so  many  words  to  make  treaties  and  give 
all  necessary  guarantees.  For  without  giving  them  nothing  can  be  done, 
and  I  am  [not]  sure  that  John  Ross  will  be  satisfied  with  my  statement 
or  assurance  that  I  have  the  power,  or  with  anything  less  than  a  formal 
authority  from  the  Congress.  He  is  very  shrewd.  If  I  fail  with  him 
it  will  not  be  my  fault. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very  truly  and  respectfully,  yours, 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Commissioner,  &c. 
Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  359-361. 

350  Pike  to  Cooley,  February  17,  1866. 

351  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  liii,  supplement,  688. 

352  A   military   escort  had   also  been   furnished  by  the  Arkansas   Military 
Board  to  General  McCulloch  [Ibid.,  687]. 

353  Motey,  or  Moty,  Kennard  is  occasionally  spoken  of,  in  the  records,  as 
the  principal  chief  of  the  entire  Creek  Nation.     The  tribe  was,  however,  very 
sharply  divided  into  the  Lower  and  the  Upper  Creeks.     Their  differences  had 
been  accentuated  by  the  unpleasant  and  even  dishonorable  and  tragic  circum- 
stances of  their  removal  from  Georgia  and  Alabama.     The  Lower  Creeks  rep- 
resented the  faction  that  had  stood  back  of  William  Mclntosh  and  that  had 
consented  to  the  fraudulent  treaty  of  Indian  Springs,  the  Upper  Creeks  were 
the  dissenters    [Abel,   History  of  Indian  Consolidation,  chapters  vi  and   vii ; 
Phillips,  Georgia  and  State  Rights,  56-57]. 


192     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

cipal  chief  of  the  Lower  Creeks,  and  Echo  Harjo,  prin- 
cipal chief  of  the  Upper  Creeks,  both  of  whom  had 
been  absent354  in  Washington  at  the  time  the  intertribal 
council  of  the  spring  had  been  planned.     They  had 
gone    to    Washington,    in    company    with    John    G. 
Smith,  as  a  delegation,  greatly  concerned  about  the 
prospect  of   Creek  finances   and  the  continuance   of 
Creek    integrity    should    the    quarrel    between    the 
North  and  the  South  continue.     Greenwood  had  tried 
to   reassure  them;  but,  when  shortly  afterwards,   all 
Indian  allowances  were  suspended355  by  the  United 
States  Indian  Office  for  fear  that  remittances  might 
fall,  en  route,  into  the  hands  of  the  disaffected,  the 
distrust  and  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Indians  revived 
and  increased,  thus  rendering  them  peculiarly  suscept- 
ible to  the  plausible  secessionist  arguments  of  men  like 
Agent  Garrett.     Sometime  in  May,  therefore,  a  dele- 
gation was  sent  to  Montgomery356  to  confer  with  au- 
thorities of  the  Confederate  States,  who  by  the  time  of 
the  arrival  of  the  Creeks  had  moved  on  to  Richmond. 
At  the  North  Fork  Village,  everything  seemed  to  be 
working  in  Pike's  favor.     There  was  scarcely  a  white 
man357  around  who  was  willing  to  say  a  word  for  the 
North;  and  leading  Indians,  who  were  known  to  be 
anti-secessionists,  were  away358  treating  with  the  Indians 

354  Letter  from  Greenwood   to   the  Delegation,   February  4,    1861    [Indian 
Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  65,  pp.  140-141]. 

355  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861.     Note  that   as  early  as 
March   18,  1861,  Secretary  Smith  had  ordered  the  suspension  of  the  issuance 
of  all  requisitions  to  ordinary  disbursing  officers  in  the  seceding  states.     This 
order  probably  affected  indirectly  even  the  Indian  Territory  [Smith  to  com- 
missioner of  Indian  affairs,  March  18,  1861,  Miscellaneous  Files,  1858-1863], 

356  Governor  Thomas  O.  Moore  of  Louisiana  to  President  Davis,  May  31, 
1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  588]. 

357  See  letter  of  W.  S.  Robertson  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  [General 
Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ri664]. 

358  See  statement  of  the  "Loyal"  Creek  Delegation  at  the  Fort  Smith  Coun- 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  193 

of  the  Plains.  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la,  who  was  to  become 
the  stanch  leader  of  the  opposition,  was  not  with  the 
absentees,  it  would  seem;  but  then  that,  at  the  time,  did 
not  so  much  signify  because  he  was  not  a  ranking  chief 
and  so  had  little  influence.359  On  the  tenth  of  July, 
the  treaty  that  Pike  and  the  Creek  commissioners  had 
been  working  on  for  days  was  finally  submitted  for 
signature  and  the  names  of  Motey  Kennard,  Echo 
Harjo,  Chilly  Mclntosh,  Samuel  Checote  and  many 

cil,  September,  1865  [Land  Files,  Indian  Talks,  Councils,  etc.,  1865-1866,  Box 
4;  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  pp.  328-329]. 

359  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  was  nevertheless  a  very  prominent  man  among  the 
Upper  Creeks  and  had  been  prominent  even  before  the  exodus  from  Georgia 
and  Alabama.  At  all  events  he  was  sufficiently  prominent  to  protest  with 
others  against  the  transportation  contracts  that  had  been  made  by  the  War 
Department  [Lewis  Cass  to  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  and  other  Creek  chiefs,  dated 
Tuckabatchytown,  Alabama,  January  27,  1836].  Again  in  1838,  Opoeth-le-yo- 
ho-la  headed  a  party  of  protest,  that  time  against  the  selling  of  certain  Creek 
lands  left  unsold  at  the  time  of  emigration  \Creek  Reservation  Papers,  25]. 

Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  assassins  of  William 
Mclntosh ;  that  is,  if  the  subjoined  statement  of  Acting-superintendent  William 
Armstrong  is  to  be  trusted: 

CHOCTAW  AGENCY  August  31,  1836 
C.  A.  HARRIS  Esqr,  Comr  of  Ind  Affairs, 

Sir:  The  first  party  of  emigrating  Creeks  are  now  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  Arkansas,  on  their  way  up.  I  shall  leave  tomorrow  so 
as  to  meet  them  at  Gibson;  while  there,  I  will  see  the  Mclntosh  party 
and  endeavor  to  learn  the  state  of  feelings  amongst  the  several  parties. 
Many  threats  have  been  made;  and  much  dissatisfaction  manifested  by 
both  Chilly  &  Roily  Mclntosh,  the  latter  has  sworn  to  kill  A-po-the-ho-lo 
who  was  concerned  in  taking  the  life  of  his  Father.  Roily  Mclntosh 
and  the  other  Chiefs  now  over,  are  opposed  to  Ne-a-math-la  the  Chief 
who  is  with  the  party  emigrating,  upon  the  ground  mainly  that  they 
may  probably  be  superseded,  or  their  authority  abridged.  I  will  how- 
ever report  to  you,  fully,  after  I  shall  have  informed  myself,  of  the  state 
of  feeling  &c,  and  will  endeavor  with  Gen'  Arbuckle,  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation.  Respectfully  Your  Obt  Servt 

WM  ARMSTRONG  Act  Supt  Westn  Terv 
War  Department  Files,  A^j. 

Early  in  the  forties,  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  posed  as  a  trader  in  the  Creek 
country.  He  was  the  partner  of  J.  W.  Taylor,  a  white  man.  The  company 
so  composed  failed,  in  1843,  "to  give  bond  and  license"  and  so  Agent  J.  L. 
Dawson  closed  its  store  [Communication  of  J.  L.  Dawson,  September  5,  1843, 
War  Department  Files,  11537]. 


194     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

other  less  prominent  Creeks  were  attached  to  it.  On 
the  twentieth,  the  general  council  approved  it  and  more 
names  were  attached,  that  of  Jacob  Derrysaw  being 
among  them.  On  one  or  the  other  occasion,  several 
white  men  signed.  William  Quesenbury,  who  was 
acting  as  Pike's  secretary,  Agent  Garrett,  Interpreter  G. 
W.  Stidham,360  and  W.  L.  Pike.  Soon  came  the  return 
of  the  travellers  and  much  subsequent  commotion. 
They  expressed  themselves  as  opposed  to  the  whole 
proceeding,  yet  three  of  them  found  that,  in  their  ab- 
sence, their  names  had  been  forged361  to  the  document 
that  was  passing  as  a  treaty  between  the  Creeks  and  the 
Confederate  States.  The  three  whose  names  were 
forged  were,  Ok-ta-ha-hassee  Harjo  (better  known 
subsequently  as  "Sands"  and  who  became  in  reconstruc- 
tion days  the  great  rival  of  Samuel  Checote  for  the 
office  of  principal  chief),  Tallise  Fixico,  and  Mikko 
Hutke.  It  is  a  matter  of  dispute  what  course  Opoeth- 
le-yo-ho-la  had  taken362  in  the  treaty  conference  but  not 
what  he  did  afterwards;  for  he  became  the  intrepid 

300  G.  W.  Stidham  was  probably  a  half-breed.     Naturally,  being  the  official 
interpreter,  he  signed  as  the  interpreter  and  not  as  a  member  of  the  tribe. 
s«i  \ye    the   loyal    Creek   Indians   represented    by  the    Delegation   now 
present,  solemnly  declare  that  the  Treaty  of  July  to,  1861  was  alone 
made  by  the  rebel  portion  of  the  Creek  Indians,  and  never  was  executed 
or  assented  to  by  the  Union  portion  of  the  Nation,  and  is,  not  now,  and 
never  has  been,  obligatory  upon  them  and  the  names  to  said  treaty,  of 
the  loyal   party,   was   a   forgery  -  Land   Files,  Indian    Talks,  Councils, 
etc..  Box  4,   1865-1866;   Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865, 
P-  330. 
362  The  document  herewith  given  presents  one  view  of  the  case: 

The  undersigned  Delegates  from  the  Creek  Nation  would  respect- 
fully ask  to  make  the  following  statement  concerning  the  alliance  be- 
tween the  said  Creek  Nation  and  the  so-called  Confederate  States  of 
America.  To  the  end  that  the  Creek  Nation  may  be  put  upon  a  proper 
footing  in  the  estimation  of  your  honorable  body  and  that  there  may  be 
no  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  the  Government  you  here  represent 
we  beg  leave  to  state: 

ist.     The  Alliance  entered  into  by  the  Creek  Nation  with  the  Con- 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  195 

leader  of  the  so-called  "Loyal  Creeks"  and  the  foremost 
of  the  "Refugees." 

If  the  Creeks  were  disturbed  about  their  national 

federate  Government  was  entered  into  voluntarily,  and  without  the  in- 
terference of  any  person  or  persons  other  than  members  of  our  tribe.  In 
taking  that  step  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  Nation  in  council,  thought 
they  were  acting  for  the  best  interests  of  the  Nation  and  of  their  pos- 
terity. 

2d.  Hopoethle  Yoholo  the  far-famed  leader  of  those  members  of  our 
tribe  who  battled  against  us,  was  not  at  the  time  of  the  making  of  the 
treaty  with  Albert  Pike  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate 
States,  a  Chief,  counsellor  or  head  man  in  said  tribe  and  had  no  voice  in 
the  council,  he  was  however  present  at  the  making  of  said  Treaty  and 
give  said  Pike  to  understand  that  he  fully  concurred  in  the  result  of  our 
deliberations.  After  the  making  of  the  Treaty  Hopoethle  Yoholo  col- 
lected together  his  adherents,  and  for  reasons  entirely  of  a  domestic 
character  and  in  no  wise  connected  with  the  National  question  at  issue, 
withdrew  from  the  country  and  assumed  a  hostile  attitude.  With  this 
exception  the  Creeks  were  united  as  one  man  in  action  and  were  ever 
united  as  one  man  in  principle  on  the  National  question  then  agitated. 

3d.  Although  the  Nation  we  represent  would  not  attempt  at  this 
time  to  urge  anything  in  palliation  of  the  course  of  conduct  they  adopted 
in  this  matter,  other  than  to  ask  your  honorable  body  to  esteem  the  error 
as  one  of  the  "head  and  not  of  the  heart" -but  we  beg  leave  to  state 
that  at  the  time  of  the  forming  of  the  Alliance  above  refered  to  circum- 
stances over  which  we  could  not  possibly  exercise  control  seemed  to  de- 
mand an  adoption  of  the  course  taken.  The  protection  always  borne 
with  the  idea  of  allegiance,  was  taken  from  our  Nation  by  the  with- 
drawal of  the  United  States  forces  from  the  Indian  Territory.  This 
movement  left  the  Nations  entirely  without  the  support  of  the  United 
States  government,  and  had  they  desired  to  remain  neutral  or  to  take 
active  measures  on  the  side  of  the  United  States  they  could  not  possibly 
have  done  so  without  having  their  Country  desolated,  or  by  abandoning 
their  homes.  Surrounded  by  States,  in  a  tumult  of  angry  excitement 
attendant  upon  a  dissolution  of  their  connection  with  the  United  States, 
they  were  completely  in  the  power  of  those  States,  without  having  United 
States  forces  to  call  to  their  aid  or  assistance.  An  alliance  under  such 
circumstances  were  [was]  indispensible  to  the  safety  of  the  country. 
Viewing  the  matter  in  this  light  the  Treaty  was  made,  and  once  having 
linked  our  destiny  with  those  of  the  Confederacy,  we  could  not  in 
honor  betray  our  trust.  In  conclusion  we  beg  leave  to  say  that  as  long 
as  events  cannot  be  controlled  by  human  wisdom  and  foresight  and  until 
an  honorable  adherence  to  promises  made  voluntarily,  is  dishonorable  so 
long  must  we  deem  ourselves  in  one  sense  at  least  -  guiltless  of  any 
criminality  in  this  matter.  -  Land  Files,  Indian  Talks,  Councils,  etc., 
Box  4,  1865-1866. 


196     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

finances,  the  Choctaws363  were  even  more  so.  There 
were  many  suspicious  circumstances  connected  with  a 
certain  corn  contract  and  with  the  expenditure  gener- 
ally of  the  huge  sum  of  money  that  the  United  States 
Congress  had  appropriated  in  satisfaction  of  claims 
arising  under  the  treaty  of  removal,  payment  on  which 
it  had  recently  suspended  to  the  displeasure  of  the  In- 
dians and  the  discomfiture  of  the  speculators.  Wher- 
ever suspicion  rested,  Pike  attempted  elaborate  explana- 
tions and,  wherever  affairs  could  be  turned  to  the  ac- 
count of  the  Confederacy,  he  labored  with  redoubled 
zeal.  His  task  was  an  easy  one  comparatively-speak- 
ing, though,  for  the  Choctaws  were  already  committed 364 
to  the  southern  cause.  The  two  Folsoms,  Peter  and 
Sampson,  who  were  among  the  special  commissioners 
sent  to  Washington  to  inquire  about  the  money  and  who 
had  lingered  at  Montgomery,  were  his  eager  coadjutors. 
Just  how  far  George  Hudson,  principal  chief,  was 
readily  compliant,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  It  is  supposed 
that  he  issued  his  proclamation365  of  June  14,  announc- 
ing independence  and  calling  for  troops,  under  com- 
pulsion and,  in  July,  he  may  still  have  been  secretly  in 
favor  of  neutrality.  The  joint  treaty  for  the  Choctaws 

sea  They  were  also  worried  over  rumors  of  sequestration : 

Statements  having  found  their  way  into  some  of  the  public  prints,  to 
the  effect  that  supplies  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  Choctaws,  have 
been  detained  by  citizens  of  the  Northern  States,  which  statements  if  un- 
contradicted  may  engender  hostile  feelings  between  those  Indians  and 
the  Government,  I  have  thought  proper  to  forward  to  you  the  enclosed 
copies  of  official  correspondence  in  relation  to  this  subject,  that  you  may 
be  able  authoritatively  to  contradict  such  statements  and  satisfy  the 
Choctaws  that  the  Government  intends  faithfully  to  preserve  and  per- 
petuate the  amicable  relations  subsisting  between  itself  and  those  peo- 
ple. -  DOLE  to  Rector  and  same  to  Coffin,  May  16,  1861  [Indian  Office, 
Letter  Book,  no.  65,  p.  458]. 

364  Particularly  by  means  of  the  resolutions  of  the  National  Council,  June 
10,  1861. 

365  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  593. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  197 

and  Chickasaws  was  completed  on  the  twelfth  of  July 
and  again  prominent  men,  the  most  prominent  in  the 
tribes,  no  doubt,  endorsed  the  action  by  affixing  their 
signatures.  R.  M.  Jones,  the  chief366  of  the  secession-/  ^ 
ists,  W.  B.  Pitchlynn,  Winchester  Colbert,  and  James 
Gamble,367  who  was  soon  afterwards  selected  as  the 
first  delegate368  to  the  Confederate  Congress,  were 
among  the  signers;  but  Agent  Cooper  was  not.  Per- 
chance, he  and  Pike  had  already  begun  to  dispute  over 
the  propriety  of  an  Indian  agent's  holding  a  colonelcy  in 
the  Confederate  army.  Cooper369  wanted  to  be  both 
agent  and  colonel. 

Having  disposed  satisfactorily  of  the  Creeks,  Choc- 
taws,  and  Chickasaws,  Pike  passed  on,  with  his  group  of 
white  and  red  friends,  to  the  Seminoles  and  met  them  in 
council370  at  their  own  agency.  Rector  was  now371  one 

366  For  evidence  of  this  and  for  the  fullest  extant  account  of  the  progress 
of  secession  among  the  Choctaws,  see  letter  of  S.  Orlando  Lee  to  Dole,  March 
15,  1862. 

367  The  following  is  found  in  the  Fort  Smith  Papers: 

Tishomingo,  C.N.  Nov.  26,  1861. 
GEN.  A.  G.  MAYERS 

Sir:  Having  been  appointed  as  a  Delegate  from  this  Nation  (the 
Chickasaw)  to  the  Southern  Congress,  am  at  a  loss  (to  know)  when  the 
Congress  does  meet.  I  have  all  along  understood  from  newspaper  ac- 
counts that  it  was  to  be  on  the  22d  of  February,  but  some  seems  to  think 
it  is  sooner.  Will  you  please  inform  me  at  your  earliest  convenience  at 
what  time  the  S.  Congress  does  meet.  Your  attention  to  the  above  is 
respectfully  requested.  I  am  yours  very  Respectfully  JAMES  GAMBLE. 
P.S.  Please  continue  to  send  me  the  Parallel.  I  will  make  it  all 
right  with  you  when  on  my  way  to  Va.  J.  G. 

sfl8  In  the  list  of  members  of  the  Confederate  congresses,  given  in  Official 

Records,   fourth  sen,  vol.  iii,  1184-1191,   no  Indian  delegate  is  specified  until 

1863. 

369  Cooper  to  President  Davis,  July  25,  1861  [ibid.,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  614]. 

370  E.   H.   Carruth,   in   a  letter  to  General  Hunter  of  November  26,   1861 
[Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  47],  would  have  us  under- 
stand that  the  Seminoles  as  a  tribe  did  not  negotiate  with  Pike,  but  that  the 
whole  affair  was  as  between  Pike  and  Jumper,  Jumper  being  assisted  by  four 
chosen  friends.     The  five  were  probably  bribed.     That  Pike  was  not  averse 
to  the  use  of  money  for  such  ends,  his  letter  to  Walker  of  June  twelfth  would 


198     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

of  his  assistants.  The  poor  Seminoles,  according  to 
their  own  story  of  what  happened,  were  taken  completely 
unawares;372  and,  after  some  skilful  maneuvering,  Pike 
succeeded  in  inducing  about  half373  of  them,  headed  by 
one  of  their  principal  chiefs,  John  Jumper,374  and  a 
town  chief,  Pas-co-fa,  to  agree  to  "perpetual  peace  and 
friendship"  with  the  Confederate  States.  There  was 
nothing  specifically  said  about  an  alliance,  offensive 
and  defensive,  but  it  was  understood  and  was  immedi- 
ately provided  for.375  The  head  chief,  Billy  Bow- 
legs,376  and  other  chiefs  of  present  and  future  impor- 

lead  us  to  suspect  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  590].  We  have,  how- 
ever, no  definite  proof  of  the  same.  John  Jumper  was  early  rewarded  by  the 
Confederate  government.  By  act  of  the  Provisional  Congress,  January  16, 
1861  [Statutes  at  Large,  p.  284],  he  was  made  an  honorary  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States.  Carruth  further  says  that  the  family 
influence  of  Jumper  "enabled  him  to  raise  forty-six  men,  not  all  Seminoles, 
and  Ben  McCulloch  authorized  him  to  call  to  his  aid  six  hundred  rangers 
from  Fort  Cobb,  that  he  might  crush  out  the  Union  feeling  in  his  tribe." 

371  It  is  just  possible  that  Rector  had  been  with  him  all  the  time.     At  all 
events  Rector  subsequently  entered  an  expense  account  against  the  C.S.A.  for 
services  from  July  tenth  to  August  twenty-fourth  inclusive.     See  Appendix  A, 
Fort  Smith  Papers. 

372  See  letter  of  Agent  Snow,  dated  March  10,  1864,  and  its  enclosures, 
one  of  which  is  a  speech  of  Long  John,  who  became  principal  chief  when  the 
aged  Billy  Bowlegs  died,  and  another,   a  speech  of  Pas-co-fa,  who,  provided 
his  signature  to  the  treaty  be  genuine,  eventually  must  have  repented  of  his 
Confederate  alliance.     He  was  soon,  with  Bowlegs  and  Chup-co,  in  the  ranks 
of  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  [General  Files,  Seminole,  1858-1867,  8291]. 

373  The  report  of  the  United  States  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  for  1863 
estimates  the  loyal  Seminoles  at  about  two-thirds  of  the  tribe  [House  Executive 
Documents,  38th  congress,  first  session,  vol.  iii,  143],  that  of  the  Confederate 
States  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  as  fully  one-half  [S.  S.  Scott  to  Secretary 
Seddon,  January  12,  1863,  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  ii,  353]. 

374  While  at  the  Creek  Agency,  Pike  had  communicated,  so  it  seems,  with 
John  Jumper  and  had  asked  him  to  meet  him  there  with  six  others  competent 
and  authorized  to  make  a  treaty.     Up  to  the  time  of  hearing  from  Pike,  John 
Jumper  seems  to  have  been  inclined  to  adhere  faithfully  to  the  United  States 
government.     The  excellent  report  of  E.  H.  Carruth,  July  n,  1861  gives  full 
particulars  of  this  whole  affair. 

375  See  supplementary  Article  [Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  525]. 

376  See  communications  from  Bowlegs  [So-nuk-mek-ko]  to  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,   March  2,   1863   and  May  13,   1863   [General  Files,  Seminole, 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  199 

tance,  like  John  Chup-co,377  refused378  to  sign  the  treaty 
and,  before  many  days  had  elapsed,  joined  the  party  of 
the  "Loyal  Creeks."  Various  ones  of  the  "Southern" 
Creeks,  notably  Motey  Kennard,  were  present  at  the 
treaty-making  and  used  their  influence  to  strengthen 
that  of  Pike,  Rector,  Agent  Rutherford,379  Contractor 
Charles  B.  Johnson,  and  a  host  of  minor  enthusiasts, 
like  J.  J.  Sturm  and  H.  P.  Jones,  all  of  whom  had  for- 
merly been  in  the  United  States  employ  and  were  now, 
or  soon  to  be,  in  the  Confederate.380 

Pike's  military  escort  had  surely  left  him  by  this  time 
and  had  returned  to  Arkansas  and  yet  never  had  it  been 
more  needed;  for  the  Confederate  commissioner  and 
his  party  were  about  to  go  into  the  western  country  to 
confer  with  the  tribes  of  the  Leased  District  whose 
friendship  as  yet  could  scarcely  be  counted  upon,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  their  agent  had  openly 
thrown  in  his  fortunes  with  the  South381  and  was  using 

1858-1869,  6131,  8317].  See  also  Dole  to  Coffin,  March  24,  1863  [Indian 
Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  70,  pp.  208-209]. 

377  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1869  [House  Executive  Docu- 
ments, 4ist  congress,  second  session,  vol.  iii,  part  3,  p.  521], 

378  See  letter  of  E.  H.  Carruth. 

379  William  P.  Davis  of  Indiana  had  been  given  the  United  States  Seminole 
Agency  but  he  never  reached  his  post  [Dole  to  John  D.  Davis,  April  5,  1862, 
Indian  Office  Letter  Book,  no.  68,  p.  39].     Consequently,  the  Confederate  States 
agent,  Rutherford,  had  sole   influence   there.     Not  until  George  C.  Snow  of 
Indiana  became  United  States  Seminole  agent,  did  the  non-secessionist  Indians 
get  the  encouragement  and  support  they  ought  to  have  had  all  along. 

380  See  Appendix  B  -  Leeper  Papers. 

381  The  Leeper  Papers,  printed  in  the  Appendix,  furnish  convincing  proof 
of  this.     Note  also  that  July  4,  1861,  Rector  wrote  to  Leeper  from  Fort  Smith 
as  follows: 

In  the  3rd  section  of  the  law  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  regulating 
the  Indian  service  connected  with  said  government,  and  making  pro- 
vision for  the  continuance  in  office  of  the  Superintendent  and  Agents 
heretofore  connected  with  the  original  U.  S.  government,  you  will  be 
continued  upon  the  same  terms  and  at  the  same  salary,  as  heretofore  re- 
ceived from  the  federal  government,  and  before  entering  upon  your 
duties  as  such  it  will  be  your  duty  to  take  an  oath  before  a  proper 


2OO     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

every  form  of  persuasive  art  to  induce  them  to  do  the 
same.  Fearing,  perhaps,  some  show  of  hostility  from 
the  Wichitas,  Comanches,  and  Tonkawas,  and  hoping 
that  a  show  of  force  on  his  part  would  intimidate  them, 
Pike  gathered  together,  before  proceeding  to  the  Leased 
District,  a  company  of  fifty-six382  mounted  men,  friend- 
ly Creeks  and  Seminoles,  and  with  them  left  the  Semin- 
ole  Council  House.  The  Leased  District  once  reached, 
some  of  the  hardest  work  of  the  whole  negotiation  be- 
gan and  two  treaties383  were  ultimately  concluded,  one 

officer  of  a  State  of  the  Confederate  States,  to  support  the  Constitution 
of  and  accept  a  Commission  from  the  Confederate  States  of  Amer- 
ica. .  .-Leeper  Papers. 

382  Pike  to  Walker,  dated  Seminole  Agency,  July  31,  1861  [Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  624].     Writing  to  Benjamin,  December  25,  1861   [ibid.,  vol. 
viii,  720],  Pike  said  he  had  "64  men." 

383  These  two  treaties  are  interesting  in  various   particulars.     They  con- 
tained fewer  concessions,  fewer  departures  from  established  practice  than  any 
others  of  the  nine.     They  were  made  primarily  for  the  maintenance  of  peace 
on  the  Texan  frontier.     That  fact  is  only  too  evident  from  their  contents  and 
from  the  circumstances  of  their  negotiation.     One  of  the  chief  reasons,  cited 
by  Texas,  for  her  withdrawal  from  the  Union  was  the  failure  of  the  United 
States  to  protect  her  from  Indian  ravages.     It  seems  never  to  have  occurred 
to  her  to  mention  the  fact  that  her  citizens,  by  their  aggressions,  had  constantly 
provoked  the  ravages,  if  such  we   can  call  them.     The  northern  counties  of 
Texas  were  not  "Southern"  in  climate  or  industries,  so  it  was  especially  neces- 
sary to  enlist  their  sympathy  in  the  Confederate  cause  by  keeping  the  Indians 
of  the  plains  quiet  and  peaceful. 

The  Comanche  treaties  were  also  interesting  in  the  matter  of  their  signa- 
tures and  of  their  schedules.  The  signatures  included  that  of  Rector,  of  the 
Creek  chiefs,  Motey  Kennard  and  Chilly  Mclntosh,  and  of  the  Seminole  chief, 
John  Jumper.  The  schedules  promised  such  things  as  the  following  to  the 
Indians  but  in  amounts  that  were  beautifully  indefinite: 

Blue  drilling,  warm  coats,  calico,  plaid  check,  regatta  cotton  shirts, 
socks,  hats,  woolen  shirts,  red,  white  and  blue  blankets,  red  and  blue  list 
cloth,  shawls  and  handkerchiefs,  brown  domestic,  thread,  yarn  and 
twine,  shoes,  for  men  and  women,  white  drilling,  ribbons,  assorted  col- 
ors, beads,  combs,  camp  kettles,  tin  cups  and  buckets,  pans,  coffee  pots 
and  dippers,  needles,  scissors  and  shears,  butcher  knives,  large  iron 
spoons,  knives  and  forks,  nails,  hatchets  and  hammers,  augers,  drawing 
knives,  gimlets,  chopping  axes,  fish-hooks,  ammunition,  including  pow- 
der, lead,  flints  and  percussion  caps,  tobacco. 
Two  of  a  kind  would  have  satisfied  most  of  the  requirements  of  these 


Negotiations  'with  the  Confederacy  201 

with  some  of  the  legitimate  residents  of  the  locality  and 
one  with  wandering  bands  who  came  in  for  the  purpose. 
It  is  well  to  note  at  the  outset,  however,  that  the  Wichi- 
tas  proper  refused  to  be  either  cajoled  or  intimidated 
and  that,  in  consequence,  they  who  had  always,  under 
United  States  control,  been  the  most  important  of  the 
reservees,  the  ones  to  give  the  name  to  the  entire  group, 
were  now  reduced  to  a  subordinate  position  and  some  of 
the  Comanches884  elevated  to  the  first  rank.  The  first 
treaty  then,  the  one  made  with  reservees,  was  thus  desig- 
nated, "Treaty  with  Comanches  and  Other  Tribes  and 
Bands."  The  second  treaty,  made  with  Indians  be- 

schedules.  The  list  of  things  is  interesting  from  the  standpoint  of  domesticity 
and  general  utility  and  also  from  the  standpoint  of  the  things  that  the  same 
Indians  had  previously  seemed  to  need  in  such  immense  quantities.  For  il- 
lustration it  would  be  well  to  note  that  when  Agent  Leeper  handed  in  his  last 
accounts  to  the  United  States  government,  he  claimed  to  have  issued  during 
the  second  quarter  of  1861  to  the  Indians  at  the  Wichita  Agency,  550  pounds 
of  coffee,  550  pounds  of  sugar,  650  pounds  of  soap,  600  pounds  of  tobacco,  etc. 

In  conclusion,  with  respect  to  these  Comanche  treaties,  we  may  say  that, 
since  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  had  put  the  Leased  District  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  C.S.A.,  there  was  very  little  for  the  reservees  themselves 
to  do,  except  take  the  protection  and  other  things  offered  by  the  Confederacy 
(the  Comanches  of  the  Prairie  and  Staked  Plain  had  promised  to  become 
reservees  on  the  Leased  District)  and  be  content.  Pike  did  not  bother  about 
promising  to  make  them  citizens  eventually  or  about  making  them  admit  the 
legality  of  the  institution  of  slavery.  Their  political  status  had  never  been 
high  and  it  was  no  higher  under  the  Confederacy  than  it  had  been  under  the 
Union. 

384  The  Tonkawas  seem  to  have  been  the  ones  who  were  the  most  com- 
pletely persuaded  of  all  to  adhere  to  the  South  and  they  continued  unwaver- 
ingly loyal  thereafter  to  its  failing  fortunes  [S.  S.  Scott  to  Governor  Win- 
chester Colbert,  dated  Fort  Arbuckle,  November  10,  1862 ;  Colbert  to  Scott, 
same  date;  Moore's  Rebellion  Record,  vol.  vi,  6;  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Report,  1863,  House  Executive  Documents,  38th  congress,  first  session, 
vol.  iii,  143;  Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  19,  pp.  186-188].  Apparently  the 
Confederacy  was  rather  careful  in  carrying  out  its  obligations  to  the  Tonkawas. 
Among  the  Leeper  Papers  are  various  documents  proving  this,  such  as  an  un- 
signed receipt  for  money  received  from  Pike,  July  19,  1862,  to  carry  out  the 
terms  of  Articles  xvi  and  xvn  of  the  treaty  of  August  12,  1861 ;  and  a  copy 
of  a  letter,  from  Leeper  probably,  to  J.  J.  Sturm,  commissary,  dated  November 
30,  1861,  complaining  that  Sturm  had  not  followed  "instructions  in  making 
issues  to  Tonkahua  Indians." 


2O2     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

longing  outside  the  Leased  District  was  designated, 
"Treaty  with  the  Comanches  of  the  Prairies  and  Staked 
Plain." 

The  negotiation  of  the  remaining  treaties  of  the  Pike 
series  came  as  an  immediate  effect  of  Confederate  mil- 
itary successes  and  belongs,  in  its  description,  to  the  next 
chapter.  It  is  proper  now  to  return  to  a  consideration 
of  the  work  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  in  so  far,  at 
least,  as  that  work  had  a  bearing  upon  the  alliance  with 
the  tribes.  On  the  twenty-eighth  of  August,  Hugh  F. 
Thomason  of  Arkansas,  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion: 

Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs  be  instructed 
to  inquire  whether  any,  and  if  so  what,  treaties  have  been  made 
with  any  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  if  so,  with  which  of  them; 
and  whether  any,  and  if  so,  what  legislation  is  necessary  in  con- 
sequence thereof;  and  that  they  have  leave  to  report  at  such 
time  and  in  such  manner  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper.385 

There  the  matter  rested  until  after  the  whole  series  of 
treaties  had  been  completed  which  was  in  ample  time 
for  President  Davis  to  submit386  Pike's  report387  and 
the  tangible  evidence  of  his  successful  work  to  the  Pro- 
visional Congress  at  its  winter  session. 

President  Davis's  message  of  December  12,  1861, 
transmitting  the  Pike  treaties  to  the  Provisional  Con- 
gress, summarized  their  merits  and  their  defects  and 
gave  direction  to  the  consideration  and  discussion  that 
ended  in  their  ratification.  It  called  particular  atten- 
tion to  the  pecuniary  obligations388  assumed  and  to  the 

385  Journal,  vol.  i,  565. 

386  Message  of  Dec.  12,  1861   [Richardson,  op.  cit.,  vol.  i,  149-151;  Official 
Register,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  785-786]. 

387  This  report  I  have  been  unable  to  find. 

sss  The  pecuniary  obligations  of  these  treaties  are  of  great  import- 
ance. Apart  from  the  annuities  secured  to  them  by  former  treaties,  and 
•which  we  are  to  assume  by  those  now  submitted,  these  tribes  have  large 
permanent  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  203 

contemplated  change  of  status.     Regarding  the  latter, 
Davis  said, 

Important  modifications  are  proposed  in  favor  of  the  respective 
local  governments  of  these  Indians,  to  which  your  special  atten- 
tion is  invited.  That  their  advancement  in  civilization  justified 
an  enlargement  of  their  power  in  that  regard  will  scarcely  ad- 
mit of  a  doubt;  but  whether  the  proposed  concessions  in  favor 
of  their  local  governments  are  within  the  bounds  of  a  wise  policy 
may  well  claim  your  serious  consideration.  In  this  connection 
your  attention  is  specially  invited  to  the  clauses  giving  to  certain 
tribes  the  unqualified  right  of  admission  as  a  State  into  the  com- 
pact of  the  Confederacy,  and  in  the  meantime  allowing  each  of 
these  tribes  to  have  a  delegate  in  Congress.  These  provisions 

their  trustee.  These  funds  may  be  divided  into  three  classes:  First. 
Money  which  the  Government  of  the  United  States  stipulated  to  invest 
in  its  own  stocks  or  stocks  of  the  States,  and  which  has  been  partly  in- 
vested in  its  own  stocks  and  partly  uninvested,  remains  in  its  Treasury, 
but  upon  which  it  is  bound  to  pay  interest.  Second.  Funds  invested  in 
the  stocks  of  States  not  members  of  this  Confederacy.  Third.  Money  in- 
vested in  stocks  of  States  now  members  of  this  Confederacy.  .  .  By 
the  treaties  now  submitted  to  you  the  first  and  second  class  are  absolutely 
assumed  by  this  Government;  but  this  Government  only  undertakes  as 
trustee  to  collect  the  third  class  from  the  States  which  owe  the  money 
and  pay  over  the  amounts  to  the  Indians  when  collected.  It  is  fortunate 
for  the  Indians  and  ourselves  that  the  amounts  embraced  in  classes  one 
and  two  are  relatively  small,  and  the  obligations  incurred  by  their  as- 
sumption cannot  be  onerous,  as  the  amount  due  by  States  of  the  Confed- 
eracy on  account  of  investments  in  the  funds  of  Northern  Indians  con- 
siderably exceeds  the  amount  to  be  assumed  under  this  provision  of  the 
treaties.  We  thereby  have  the  means  to  compel  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  to  do  justice  to  the  Indians  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Confederate  States,  or  to  indemnify  ourselves  for  its  breach  of  faith. 

.  .  .  I  also  submit  to  you  the  report  of  Albert  Pike,  the  commis- 
sioner, which  contains  a  history  of  his  negotiations  and  submits  his  rea- 
sons for  a  departure  from  his  instructions  in  relation  to  the  pecuniary 
obligations  to  be  incurred.  [The  reference  here  is  to  a  letter  from  Pike 
to  Toombs,  May  20,  1861,  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  581.]  In 
view  of  the  circumstances  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  the  great  im- 
portance of  preserving  peace  with  the  Indians  on  the  frontier  of  Texas, 
Arkansas,  and  Missouri,  and  not  least,  because  of  the  spirit  these  tribes 
have  manifested  in  making  common  cause  with  us  in  the  war  now  ex- 
isting, I  recommend  the  assumption  of  the  stipulated  pecuniary  obliga- 
tions, and,  with  the  modifications  herein  suggested,  that  the  treaties 
submitted  be  ratified.  -  Official  Records,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  786. 


204     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

are  regarded  not  only  as  impolitic  but  unconstitutional,  it  not 
being  within  the  limits  of  the  treaty-making  power  to  admit  a 
State  or  to  control  the  House  of  Representatives  in  the  matter 
of  admission  to  its  privileges.  I  recommend  that  the  former 
provision  be  rejected,  and  that  the  latter  be  so  modified  as  to 
leave  the  question  to  the  future  action  of  Congress;  and  also 
do  recommend  the  rejection  of  those  articles  in  the  treaties  which 
confer  upon  Indians  the  right  to  testify  in  the  State  courts,  be- 
lieving that  the  States  have  the  power  to  decide  that  question, 
each  for  itself,  independently  of  any  action  of  the  Confederate 
Government.889 

Again  Arkansas  was  in  the  lead  in  the  exhibition  of 
interest  and,  on  the  motion390  of  one  of  her  delegation, 
Robert  W.  Johnson,  the  president's  message  and  the  doc- 
uments accompanying  it  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Indian  Affairs.  This  was  on  the  thirteenth  of  De- 
cember and  Johnson  was  the  chairman  of  the  commit- 
tee. On  the  nineteenth,  the  treaties  began  to  be  con- 
sidered391 in  executive  session.  The  first  to  be  so  con- 
sidered was  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw,  and  interest 
concentrated  on  its  twenty-seventh  article,392  the  one 
giving  to  the  two  tribes  jointly  a  delegate  in  the  Con- 
federate Congress.  This  provision  was  finally  amend- 
ed393 so  as  to  leave  the  delegate's  status,  his  rights  and 
his  privileges,  just  as  Davis  had  recommended,  to  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Then  came  the  considera- 
tion of  the  twenty-eighth  article,394  which  promised 
ultimate  statehood,  and  that  also  was  amended  in  such 
a  way  as  to  leave  the  final  determination  to  Congress, 

By  whose  act  alone,  under  the  Constitution,  new  States  can  be 

389  Official  Record,  fourth  sen,  vol.  i,  785-786. 

390  Journal,  vol.  i,  564,  565. 
39i_  Ibid.,  590-596. 

3S2  —  Ibid.,  590-591. 

393  Statutes  at  Large,  330. 

894  Journal,  vol.  i,  591-592. 


Negotiations  with  the  Confederacy  205 

admitted  and  whose  consent  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  Presi- 
dent or  the  present  Congress  to  guarantee  in  advance.     .     ,898 

In  the  afternoon  of  December  twenty-first,  the  Pro- 
visional Congress  resumed390  its  consideration  of  the 
Indian  treaties.  The  day  previous,  it  had  decided  upon 
this  order  of  procedure  and  had  agreed397  that  the 
Comanche  treaties,  being  of  the  least  importance, 
should  be  left  to  the  last.  The  work  of  the  twenty-first 
was  on  the  judicial  clauses  and,  on  the  question  of  the 
qualification  of  the  Indians  to  be  competent  witnesses 
in  civil  and  criminal  suits.  Article  XXXVI898  of  the 
Osage  Treaty,  dealing  with  the  right  to  subpoena  wit- 
nesses and  to  have  counsel,  seemed  likely  to  create  pre- 
judice.399 At  length  Waul  of  Texas  suggested400  that 
Commissioner  Pike  be  invited  to  be  present  at  future 
sessions  in  order  that  some  very  necessary  explanations 
of  scope,  of  motives,  and  of  reasons  might  be  forthcom- 
ing. In  the  end,  the  only  changes  made  in  the  grant  of 
judicial  privileges  were  along  the  line  of  safe-guarding 
the  existing  rights  of  the  individual  states.  In  illustra- 
tion of  this,  take  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  as 
typical  of  all  of  the  treaties  of  the  First  Class.  Articles 
XLIII  and  XLIV  were  amended.  To  the  former  was 
added, 

And  the  Confederate  States  will  request  the  several  States 
of  the  Confederacy  to  adopt  and  enact  the  provisions  of  this  ar- 
ticle, in  respect  to  suits  and  proceedings  in  their  several  courts.401 

From  the  latter,  the  phrase,  "or  of  a  State,"  was  stricken 

395  Statutes  at  Large,  331. 
39fl  Journal,  vol.  i,  597. 
w  —  lbid.,  593. 

398  Statutes  at  Large,  367. 

399  Journal,  601. 
*™  —  Ibid.,  598. 

*01  Statutes  at  Large,  331. 


206     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

out  and  this  substitution  made;  "or  of  a  State,  subject  to 
the  laws  of  the  State." 402 

On  the  whole,  the  Indian  treaties  took  up  a  very  large 
share  of  the  attention  of  the  Confederate  Congress 
throughout  the  month  of  December;  and,  after  debate, 
President  Davis's  advice  in  every  particular  was  fol- 
lowed, even  to  the  assumption  of  the  pecuniary  obliga- 
tions. On  the  twenty-third  of  December,  Johnson  re- 
ported 403  back  the  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  and  some 
of  its  clauses  were  then  considered.  On  the  same  day, 
Johnson  offered404  a  resolution  of  ratification  for  the 
Seminole  Treaty  and  it  was  unanimously  adopted,  the 
same  changes  identically  having  been  made  in  the  treaty 
as  had  been  made  in  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  in  so 
far  as  the  two  treaties  corresponded  originally  with 
each  other.  Congress  also  ratified  a  supplementary 
article  to  the  Seminole  Treaty.  The  last  of  the  month, 
the  Comanche  treaties  were  reached405  and  soon  pushed 
through  with  only  very  slight  modifications.  Then 
came  the  final  consideration  of  the  treaty  with  the  Creek 
Indians.  It  was  ratified406  with  the  customary  amend- 
ments the  same  day.  The  Quapaw  Treaty  came 40T  next 
and  with  its  congressional  ratification,  the  work  of  dip- 
lomatically securing  the  Indians  was  practically  done. 
The  later  Indian  ratification  was  more  or  less  perfunc- 
tory. 


402  Statutes  at  Large,  331. 

403  Journal,  vol.  i,  610. 

404 


405  —  Ibid.,  632-633. 

406  _  Hid.,  634. 
w  —  lbid.,  635. 


IV.    THE  INDIAN  NATIONS  IN  ALLIANCE 
WITH  THE  CONFEDERACY 

The  work  of  soliciting  the  military  support  of  the 
Indians  and,  to  a  large  extent,  that  of  securing  it,  ante- 
dated very  considerably  the  formal  negotiation  of 
treaties  with  their  constituted  authorities.  Whether  it 
be  true  or  not,  that  Douglas  H.  Cooper,  United  States 
agent  for  the  Choctaws  and  the  Chickasaws,  did,  as  early 
as  April,  1861,  begin  to  enroll  his  Indians  for  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Confederate  States,  it  is  indisputable  that, 
immediately  upon  receiving  Secretary  Walker's  com- 
munication408 of  May  thirteenth,  he  began  to  do  it  in 
real  earnest  and,  from  that  time  forward,  gained  his  re- 
cruits with  astonishing  ease.  There  were  many409  to 
recommend  the  employment  of  the  Indians  and  some  to 
oppose  it.  A  certain  F.  J.  Marshall,  writing410  to  Jef- 
ferson Davis  from  Marysville,  Kansas,  on  the  twentieth 
of  May,  mapped  out  a  tremendous  programme  of  activ- 
ities in  which  Indians  were  to  play  their  part  and  to 
help  secure  everything  of  value  between  the  Missouri 
line  and  the  Pacific  coast.  Henry  McCulloch 
thought411  they  might  be  used  advantageously  in  Texas 
and  on  her  borders.  Pike  believed412  not  more  than 
thirty-five  hundred  could  be  counted  upon,  maybe  five 

408  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  574. 

409  Chief  Justice  M.  H.  McWillie  of  La  Mesilla,  Arizona,  was  among  the 
number.     See  his  letter  to  President  Davis,  June  30,  1861,  quoted  in  Official 
Records,  vol.  iv,  96. 

410  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  578-579. 

411  _  JbM^   vol.    [t    fog. 

412  Letter  to  Johnson,  May  u,  1861,  ibid.,  vol.  iii,  572. 


208     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

thousand,  but  whatever  the  number,  he  would  engage 
them  quickly  and  provide  them  with  the  necessary 
equipment.  He  wanted  also  to  employ413  a  battalion 
of  those  Indians  that  more  strictly  belonged  to  Kansas. 
Presumably,  then,  he  would  not  have  confined  Confed- 
erate interest  to  the  slaveholding  tribes.  Others  besides 
Pike  were  doubtless  of  the  same  mind.  Marshall  was, 
for  instance,  and  southern  emissaries  were  frequently 
heard  of,  north  of  the  Neosho  River.  Henry  C.  Whit- 
ney, one  of  two  United  States  special  agents  (Thomas 
C.  Slaughter  was  the  other),  sent414  out  to  Kansas  to 
investigate  and  with  a  view  to  relieve  under  congres- 
sional appropriation415  the  distress  among  the  Indians, 
caused  by  the  fearful  and  widespread  drouth  of  1860, 
met416  with  many  traces  of  secessionist  influence.4" 

413  Letter  to  Toombs,  May  20,  1861,  ibid.,  581. 

414  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  14. 

415  Act  of  March  2,  1861,  U.S.  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  xii,  239. 

416  On   the   twenty-second   of    May,   Whitney   reported,   generally,  on    the 
condition  of  several  tribes: 

Owing  to  the  extremely  dangerous  state  of  political  affairs  in  Mis- 
souri especially  along  the  line  of  the  H.  &  St.  Jo.  R.R.,  I  have  refrained 
from  writing  to  you.  .  .  Although  the  Delaware*  were  not  especially 
refered  to  in  my  instructions  yet  I  visited  the  Mission  &  Agent  as  it  was 
quite  convenient  .  .  .  and  ascertained  to  my  complete  satisfac- 
tion .  .  .  that  they  were  a  wealthy  tribe  and  that  although  many  of 
their  individual  members  were  necessitous  yet  they  were  not  of  the 
destitute  kind  contemplated  by  your  department:  2d.  that  the  new  agent 
who  had  heard  of  this  movement  towards  relief  was  very  anxious  to 
make  it  appear  that  his  tribe  was  very  needy  &  to  have  large  amounts 
of  relief  furnished  at  his  residence  on  the  Missouri  River  away  from 
the  agency  &  also  from  a  central  point.  .  . 

I  next  visited  the  Osage  River  Agency  and  ascertained  that  all  of 
the  tribes  belonging  to  that  Agency  were  in  rather  a  destitute  condition, 
they  having  used  and  still  (are)  using  their  school  fund  in  buying  pro- 
visions: the  Miamis  of  that  agency  I  found  to  be  the  most  needy  &  it 
might  be  said  that  they  were  suffering  to  some  extent.  .  . 

.     .     .     In  reference  to  the  Neosho  Agency,  as  that  was  such  a  long 
distance   I    engaged   three    trains    of  wagons    before    leaving   Leaven- 
worth.     .     . 
Whitney  speaks  harshly  of  the   Osages  as  lazy  vagabonds  and  continues, 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  209 

The  efforts  of  Cooper,  coupled  with  those  of  Pike 
and  McCulloch,  in  this  matter  of  the  enlistment  of  In- 

.  .  .  The  general  famine  throughout  Kansas  had  but  little  to  do 
with  their  sufferings  as  they  cultivate  nothing  of  consequence  .  .  . 
and  therefore  .  .  .  they  are  not  morally  &  strictly  proper  objects  of 
government  charity.  .  . 

.  .  .  Systematic  and  well  planned  solicitations  had  been  and  are 
being  made  by  Missourians  to  them  to  take  up  arms  against  the  bor- 
derers to  which  the  people  throughout  this  entire  section  feared  they 
might  be  induced  on  account  of  the  neglect  of  Government  [and  because 
the  whites  steal  their  ponies]  -  Land  Files,  Central  Superintendency, 
1852-1869,  W223. 

Note  that  Whitney  thought  the  reports  of  border  ruffian  inducements, 
though  true  in  a  measure,  had  been  exaggerated.  On  the  eighth  of  June,  he 
reported  again, 

When  I  got  within  reach  of  the  H.  &  St.  J.  R.  R.  it  became  apparent 
that  my  produce  would  be  at  best  somewhat  exposed  to  seizure  by  the 
secessionists  and  that  such  hazard  would  be  very  greatly  enhanced  if  it 
was  known  to  be   government  property   and  especially  if  it  should  be 
known  to  be  going  to  the  Indians  whom  the  Missourians  were  even  then 
as  was  reported  upon  authority  endeavoring  to  excite  against  the  bor- 
derers.    .     .  -  Land  Files,  Central  Superintendency,  1852-1869,  W223- 
Slaughter  had  less  to  report;  but  even  he,  on  the  twenty-first  of  June,  said, 
while  insisting  that  the  reports  had  been  exaggerated, 

I  have  no  doubt  overtures  have  been  held  out  to  them  [the  more  north- 
ern tribes],  but  whether  from  authorized  parties  from  [the]  South  no 
one  can  tell.  It  is  all  matter  of  conjecture.  A  general  council  of  the 
tribes  it  is  understood  has  been  solicited  by  some  of  the  Southern  In- 
dians, but  I  doubt  whether  it  will  be  held.  -  General  Files,  Central  Su- 
perintendency, 1860-1862,  8404. 

Slaughter  further  surmised,  from  personal  observations,  that  the  northern 
tribes  would  remain  loyal  to  the  United  States.  See  his  letter  to  Dole,  June  15, 
1861.  Other  people  were  of  the  same  opinion,  although,  in  early  1861,  the 
various  tribes  had  much  to  complain  of,  much  to  make  them  discontented  and 
therefore  very  susceptible  to  bad  influences.  Some  of  the  Miamis  were  pre- 
ferring charges  against  Agent  Clover  for  misapplication  of  funds  and  other 
things  [Louis  Lefontaine,  etc.  to  Greenwood,  January  13,  1861,  Land  Files, 
Osage  River,  1860-1866]  ;  the  Kaws  were  suffering  and  R.  S.  Stevens  slowly 
working  out  the  details  of  his  preposterous  graft  in  the  construction  of  houses 
for  them  [M.  C.  Dickey  to  Greenwood,  February  26,  1861,  General  Files, 
Kansas,  1855-1862,  0250,  and  same  to  same,  March  i,  1861,  ibid.,  0251];  the 
Shawnees  were  having  the  usual  troubles  over  their  tribal  elections,  Joseph 
White  having  recently  been  elected  second  chief  in  place  of  Eli  Blackhoof 
[Robinson  to  Greenwood,  February  19,  1861,  Land  Files,  Shaivnee,  1860-1865]  ; 
and  then,  even  farther  north,  from  among  the  Otoes,  came  additional  complaints; 


2io     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

dian  troops,  were  soon  rewarded.  Chief  Hudson's 
proclamation  of  June  fourteenth,  besides  being  a  decla- 
ration of  independence,  was  a  call  for  troops  and  a  call 
that  was  responded  to  by  the  Choctaws  with  alacrity. 
A  little  more  than  a  month  later,  the  enlistment  of  In- 
dians had  so  far  advanced  that  McCulloch  was  able  to 
speak418  positively  as  to  his  intended  disposition  of 
them.  It  was  to  keep  them,  both  the  Choctaw-Chick- 
asaw  regiment,  which  was  then  well  under  way  towards 

for  Agent  Dennison,  who  by  the  way,  became  a  secessionist  and  a  defaulter 
[Dole  to  Thaddeus  Stevens,  May  26,  1862,  Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  12, 
pp.  388-389],  was  withholding  annuities  and  an  uprising  was  threatening  in 
consequence  [General  Files,  Otoe,  1856-1862}. 

417  The   alien   influence   extended   itself  even   to  the  wild  Indians  of  the 
Plains.    On  the  sixth  of  August,  1861  [General  Files,  Pottatuatomie,  1855-1861, 
6704.],  Branch  reported  bad  news  that  he  had  received  from  Agent  Ross  re- 
garding the  hostile  approach  of  these  Indians  and  remarked, 

I  think  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  what  emissaries  of  the  Rebels  have 
been  and  are  actively  engaged  in  creating  dissatisfaction  against  the 
government  with  every  tribe  of  Indians  that  they  dare  approach  on  that 
subject. 

As  soon  as  I  can  get  the  business  of  this  office  in  a  shape  so  I  can 
conveniently  leave  my  office  duties  I  propose  visiting  the  most  of  the 
tribes  under  this  superintendency  with  a  view  to  reconciling  them  and 
enjoining  peace.  .  . 

Similarly  Captain  Elmer  Otis  from  Fort  Wise,  August  17,  1861,  and  A.  G. 
Boone  from  the  Upper  Arkansas  Agency,  September  7,  1861,  reported  the 
Texans'  tampering  with  the  Kiowas  [Land  Files,  Upper  Arkansas,  1855-1865, 
040,  6772],  who  seem  successfully  to  have  resisted  their  threats  and  their 
blandishments.  The  Comanches  of  Texas  were  also  approached  but  they  fled 
rather  than  yield  [Boone  to  Mix,  October  19,  1861,  ibid.,  B86i].  They,  how- 
ever, importunately  demanded  a  treaty  from  the  United  States  government  in 
return  for  their  loyalty.  They  were  poor,  they  said,  and  had  lost  their  hunt- 
ing-grounds. Boone  made  good  use  of  them  as  scouts  and  spies  against  the 
Texans  [Letter  of  December  14,  1861,  ibid.,  Bioo6].  They  were  of  the  Co- 
manches who  had  treated  with  Pike  and  who  had  solemnly  pledged  themselves, 
under  duress  and  temporary  excitement,  to  amity  and  allegiance.  Secret 
agents  from  the  South  went  also  among  the  Blackfeet  and  Agent  Thomas  G. 
McCulloch  sent  an  ex-employee  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  named  Alex- 
ander Culbertson  and  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  Blackfeet  chief,  as  a 
secret  agent  to  counteract  their  influence  [General  Files,  Central  Superin- 
tendency, 1860-1862}. 

418  Letter  to  Walker,  July  18,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  Hi,  6ti]. 


Alliance  'with  the  Confederacy  211 

organization,  and  the  Creek,  which  was  then  forming,  at 
Scullyville,  situated  fifteen  miles,  or  thereabouts,  from 
Fort  Smith,  as  a  check  upon  the  Cherokees.  Evidently 
the  peace-loving  element  among  the  Cherokees  was  yet 
the  dominant  one.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  Cooper 
furnished  further  information, 

The  organization  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Regiment 
of  Mounted  Rifles  will  be  completed  this  week,  but  as  yet  no 
arms  419  have  been  furnished  at  Fort  Smith  for  them.  I  hope 
speedy  and  effectual  measures  will  be  taken  to  arm  the  people 
of  this  (Indian)  Territory  -  the  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Cherokees. 
.  .  .  The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  can  furnish  10,000  war- 
riors 42°  if  needed.  The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  are  extreme- 
ly anxious  to  form  another  regiment. 

419  The  scarcity  of  arms  proved  to  be  a  serious  matter.    On  the  thirtieth 
of  July,   the   assistant-quartermaster   general,  George  W.   Clark,  telegraphed 
to  Walker  that  arms  had  not  yet  arrived  and  that  the  Indians,  encamped  at 
the  Old  Choctaw  Agency,  were,  in  consequence,  showing  signs  of  discontent 
[Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  620], 

420  Cooper  probably  spoke  the  truth,  for  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  to- 
gether had  a  population  of  twenty-three  thousand. 

In   1861,  the   Indian  population  of  the  Southern   Superintendency  was,  as 
reported  by  Dole  upon  inquiry  from  Hon.  J.  S.  Phelps  of  Missouri  [John  C. 
G.  Kennedy,  of  the  Census  Office,  to  Dole,  August  9,  1861] : 

Chickasaws         .......  5,000 

Choctaws  .  .  .  .  ..  .  .  18,000 

Cherokees  .  .  .  .  .  »  .  21,000 

Creeks     .  .  .  .          ...  .  .  I3»55Q 

Seminoles    (of  which  1,247  were  males)         .          .  .  2,267 

[Dole's  answer,  August  10,  1861]. 

In  April,  the  report  from  the  Indian  Office  had  been: 

Choctaws  .......  18,000 

Chickasaws         .......  5,000 

Total            .  23,000 

Creeks     ........  13,550 

Cherokees            .......  *7>S3O 

Seminoles             .......  2,267 

Neosho  Agency  .......  4*863 

Leased  District  .......  2,500 

Total  .  63,710 

[Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  12]. 


212     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

There  seems  to  be  a  disposition  to  keep  the  Indians  at  home. 
This  seems  to  me  bad  policy.  They  are  unfit  for  garrison  duty, 
and  would  be  a  terror  to  the  Yankees.*21 

All  this  time,  of  course,  Pike  had  been  making  prog- 
ress with  his  treaties  and  undoubtedly  simplifying 
Cooper's  task  by  embodying  in  those  treaties  the  prin- 
ciples of  an  active  alliance.  These  clauses  from  the 
Creek  Treaty  will  illustrate  the  point: 

ARTICLE  I.  There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  friendship, 
and  an  alliance  offensive  and  defensive,  between  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  and  all  of  their  States  and  people,  and  the 
Creek  Nation  of  Indians,  and  all  its  towns  and  individuals.422 

ARTICLE  xxxvi.  In  consideration  of  the  common  interests  of 
the  Creek  Nation  and  the  Confederate  States,  and  of  the  pro- 
tection and  rights  guaranteed  to  the  said  nation  by  this  treaty, 
the  Creek  Nation,  hereby  agrees  that  it  will,  either  by  itself  or 
in  conjunction  with  the  Seminole  Nation,  raise  and  furnish  a 
regiment  of  ten  companies  of  mounted  men  to  serve  in  the  armies 
of  the  Confederate  States  for  twelve  months,  the  company  of- 
ficers whereof  shall  be  elected  by  the  members  of  the  company, 
and  the  field  officers  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  members 
of  the  regiment.  The  men  shall  be  armed  by  the  Confederate 
States,  receive  the  same  pay  and  allowances  as  other  mounted 
troops  in  the  service,  and  not  be  moved  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Indian  country  west  of  Arkansas  without  their  consent.423 

ARTICLE  xxxvn.  The  Creek  Nation  hereby  agrees  and 
binds  itself  at  any  future  time  to  raise  and  furnish,  upon  the  re- 

421  Letter  to  President  Davis  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  614]. 

422  Identical   with   Article   I  of  both  the   Cherokee   and  the  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw,   but   different   from  the   Seminole  in  that  the   Seminole  provided 
simply  for  "perpetual  peace  and  friendship." 

423  The   corresponding  Choctaw   and  Chickasaw  Article   [XLIX]   stipulated 
that  the  colonel  of  the   regiment  should   be   appointed  by  the  president.     Of 
course,  Douglas  H.  Cooper,  was  at  this  time,  the  one  and  only  candidate  for 
the  place  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  exception  was  made  for  his  especial 
benefit.     However,  Pike  objected  to  his  holding,  in  addition  to  the  colonelcy, 
the  office  of  Indian  agent  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  614]. 

Agent  Garrett  wanted  the  position  of  colonel  in  the  Creek  regiment  and 
Pike  recommended  him,  but  McCulloch  objected  saying, 

I  hope  the  appointment  will  not  be  made,  for  Colonel  Garrett  is  in  no 
way  qualified  for  the  position,  and  from  what  I  know  of  his  habits,  I 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  213 

quisition  of  the  President,  such  number  of  troops  for  the  defence 
of  the  Indian  country,  and  of  the  frontier  of  the  Confederate 


am  satisfied  that  a  worse  appointment  could  not  be  made.  -  Official  Rec- 
ords, first  sen,  vol.  iii,  597. 

This  was  before  the  treaty  had  been  negotiated  and,  after  it  had  been  ne- 
gotiated, Pike  wrote  to  Walker  as  follows: 

When  I  recommended  the  appointment  of  William  H.  Garrett,  the 
present  agent  for  the  Creeks,  to  be  colonel  of  the  Creek  regiment,  I  had 
not  sufficiently  estimated  the  ambition  and  desire  for  distinction  of  the 
leading  men  of  that  nation,  and  I  also  supposed  that  Mr.  Garrett,  popu- 
lar with  them  as  an  agent,  would  be  acceptable  as  colonel  of  their 
regiment;  but  when  I  concluded  with  them  the  very  important  treaty 
of  July  10,  instant,  they  strenuously  insisted  that  the  colonel  of  the 
regiment  to  be  raised  should  be  elected  by  the  men.  As  the  public  in- 
terest did  not  require  I  should  insist  upon  a  contrary  provision,  by 
which  I  might  have  jeoparded  the  treaty,  I  yielded,  and  the  conse- 
quence is  that  by  the  treaty,  as  signed  and  ratified  by  the  Creek  coun- 
cil, the  field  officers  are  all  to  be  elected  by  the  men  of  the  regiment 

This  being  the  case,  I  have  this  day  written  Colonel  Garrett,  re- 
questing him  to  inform  the  Creeks  immediately,  as  I  have  already  done, 
that  notwithstanding  his  appointment  they  will  elect  their  colonel.  If 
he  should  not  do  so  he  will  cause  much  mischief,  and  would  deserve  se- 
vere censure ;  but  I  do  not  doubt  he  will  promptly  do  it.  .  .  -  Official 
Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  623-624. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  August,  the  matter  was  settled  at  Richmond  by 
Walker's  writing  to  Pike, 

In  order  that  there  shall  be  no  misunderstanding  with  the  friendly 
Indians  west  of  Arkansas,  this  Department  is  anxious  that  the  article  in 
the  treaty  made  by  you,  guaranteeing  to  them  the  right  of  selecting 
their  own  field  officers,  shall  be  carried  out  in  good  faith.  The  name  of 
Mr.  Garrett  will  therefore  be  dropped  as  colonel  of  the  Creek  regiment, 
and  that  regiment  will  proceed  to  elect  its  own  officers.  The  regiment 
being  formed  among  the  Seminoles  will  exercise  the  same  right.  Re- 
assure the  tribes  of  the  perfect  sincerity  of  this  Government  toward 
them. -I bid.,  671. 

The  corresponding  Cherokee  Article  [XL]  differed  slightly  from  the  Creek. 
It  seems  to  have  taken  certain  things,  like  the  choice  of  officers,  both  company 
and  field,  for  granted.  It  reads  thus: 

In  consideration  of  the  common  interest  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  and 
the  Confederate  States,  and  of  the  protection  and  rights  guaranteed  to 
the  said  nation  by  this  treaty,  the  Cherokee  Nation  hereby  agrees  that 
it  will  raise  and  furnish  a  regiment  of  ten  companies  of  mounted  men, 
with  two  reserve  companies,  if  allowed,  to  serve  in  the  armies  of  the 
Confederate  States  for  twelve  months;  the  men  shall  be  armed  by  the 
Confederate  States,  receive  the  same  pay  and  allowances  as  other  mount- 
ed troops  in  the  service,  and  not  be  moved  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Indian  country  west  of  Arkansas  without  their  consent. 


214     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

States  as  he  may  fix,  not  out  of  fair  proportion  to  the  number 
of  its  population,  to  be  employed  for  such  terms  of  service  as 
the  President  may  fix;  and  such  troops  shall  always  receive  the 
same  pay  and  allowances  as  other  troops  of  the  same  class  in  the 
service  of  the  Confederate  States.424 

ARTICLE  xxxvm.  It  is  further  agreed  by  the  said  Confed- 
erate States  that  the  said  Creek  Nation  shall  never  be  required 
or  called  upon  to  pay,  in  land  or  otherwise,  any  part  of  the  ex- 
penses of  the  present  war,  or  of  any  war  waged  by  or  against 
the  Confederate  States.425 

ARTICLE  xxxix.  It  is  further  agreed  that,  after  the  restora- 
tion of  peace,  the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States  will 
defend  the  frontiers  of  the  Indian  country,  of  which  the  Creek 
country  is  a  part,  and  hold  the  forts  and  posts  therein,  with  na- 
tive troops,  recruited  among  the  several  Indian  Nations  includ- 
ed therein,  under  the  command  of  officers  of  the  army  of  the 
Confederate  States,  in  preference  to  other  troops.426 

Although  John  Ross  had  positively  forbidden  the  re- 
cruiting of  any  force  within  the  limits  of  the  Cherokee 
country,  that  while  nominally  for  home  defense,  should 
be  in  reality  a  reserve  force  for  the  Confederacy,  he  was 
unable  to  prevent  individuals  from  going  over,  on  their 
own  responsibility  entirely,  to  McCulloch;  and  many 
did  go  and  are  believed  to  have  fought427  with  his 

424  Identical  with  Article  LI  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  and 
with  Article  LXI  of  the  Cherokee. 

425  Identical  with  Article  L  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty,  with 
Article  XLII  of  the  Cherokee,  and  with  Article  xxxvi  of  the  Seminole. 

426  Identical  with  Article  LII  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Treaty  and 
with  Article  XLIII  of  the  Cherokee. 

427  Fremont  reported  to  Townsend,  August  13,   1861,  that  Cherokee  half- 
breeds,  judging  from  the  muster  roll  and  from  the  corroborating  testimony  of 
prisoners,  were  with  McCulloch   in  this  battle,  fought  about  ten  miles  south 
of  Springfield,  August  10,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  54].     Con- 
nelley  says,   in  1861,  Quantrill,  returning  from  Texas,  lingered  in  the  Cher- 
okee Nation  with  a  half-breed  Cherokee,  Joel  Mayes, 

Who,   many  years   after  the  war,  was  elected   Head  Chief  of  the 
Nation.     Mayes  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  and  was  captain 
of  a  company  or  band  of  Cherokees  who  followed  General   Ben  Mc- 
Culloch  to  Missouri.  -  Quantrill  and  the  Border   Wars,  198]. 
A  letter,  written  by  McCulloch  to  Colonel  John  Drew,  September  i,  1861, 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  215 

brigade  at  the  Battle  of  Oak  Hills,  or  Wilson's  Creek. 
That  battle  proved  the  determining  point  in  this  period 
of  Cherokee  history.  It  was  a  Confederate  victory,  and 
a  victory  gained  under  such  circumstances428  that  the 
watchful  Indians  had  every  reason  to  think  that  the 
southern  cause  would  be  triumphant  in  the  end. 

The  dissensions429  among  the  Cherokee  and  the  con- 
stant endeavors  of  the  Ridge  Party  to  develop  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  the  Confederacy,  to  undermine 
the  popularity  of  John  Ross,  and  to  destroy  his  influence 
over  the  full-bloods  were,  and  there  is  no  gainsaying  it, 
the  real  causes  of  the  ultimate  Cherokee  defection. 
The  Battle  of  Wilson's  Creek  was  only  the  occasion, 
only  the  immediate  cause,  the  excuse,  if  you  please,  and 
of  itself  could  never  have  brought  about  a  decision. 
Yet  its  effect430  upon  Cherokee  opinion  was  unquestion- 
ably great  and  immediate,  and  that  effect  was  notice- 
ably strengthened  and  intensified  by  the  memory  of 

seems  to  indicate  that  individual  Cherokees  had  joined  him  [Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  691]. 

428  The  Federal  defeat  was  believed  by  contemporaries  to  have  been  due 
to  mismanagement,  to  army   friction,  to  the  incompetency  and  sloth  of  Sigel, 
and  to  Fremont's  failure  to  reinforce  the  redoubtable  Lyon,  who  fell   in  the 
engagement.     An    investigation   into    Sigel's   conduct  was   subsequently   made 
by  Hal  leek,  Sigel's  bitter  enemy.     Halleck  hated  Sigel,  because  Sigel  so  greatly 
admired  Fremont,  whom  Halleck  supplanted;  and  because  Sigel  was  the  hero 
of  the  Germans,  and  one  of  them.     For  the  Germans,  Halleck   had   a  great 
antipathy.     Many    of    them    were    "pfalzisch-badischen    Revolutionare"    and 
Halleck  regarded  them  as  adventurers  or  as  refugees  from  justice.     They  in 
turn   referred   to  Halleck  as  one  of  the  West  Point  "bunglers"  who  were  so 
numerous  in  the  northern  army,  the  really  efficient  and  capable  West  Pointers, 
so  they  said,  having  all  gone  with  the  South   [Kaufmann's  "Sigel  und  Hal- 
leck"   in    Deutsch-Amerikanische    Geschichtsblatter,    Band,    210-216,    October 
1910]. 

429  Even  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  these  were  so  serious  as  to  threaten   a 
Cherokee  civil  war  [Letter  of  John  Crawford,  May  21,   1861,  General  Files, 
Cherokee,  1859-1865;  Mix   to  Crawford,  June  4,   1861,   Indian  Office,  Letter 
Book,  no.  66,  pp.  15-16]. 

430  Ben  McCulloch  to  Walker,   September  2,   1861    [Official  Records,  first 
ser.,  vol.  iii,  692]  ;  Pike  to  Benjamin,  December  25,  1861  [ibid.,  vol.  viii,  720]. 


216     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

other  Federal  reverses  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
especially  the  more  recent  and  more  serious  one  of 
Manassas  Junction,  on  the  twenty-first  of  July. 

Up  to  about  that  time,  the  neutral  policy  of  John  Ross 
seems  to  have  received  the  endorsement  of  a  majority 
of  the  Cherokee  people.  In  the  last  days  of  June,  the 
Executive  Council  had  been  called  together  and  had, 
after  a  session  of  several  days,  publicly  and  officially 
approved431  of  the  stand  the  principal  chief  had  taken 
to  date.  But  events  were  already  under  way  that  were 
to  make  this  executive  action  in  no  sense  a  true  index  to 
popular  feeling.  The  secessionists  were  secretly  organ- 
izing themselves,  ready  to  seize  the  first  opportunity 
that  might  appear.  The  full-bloods,  or  non-secession- 
ists, were  also  organized  and,  under  the  name  of  "Pins," 
were  holding  meetings  of  mutual  encouragement 
among  the  hills.  Encounters  between  the  two  factions 
were  not  infrequent  and  the  half-breeds  resorted  to  all 
sorts  of  expedients  for  persuading,  or  that  failing,  of 
frightening  the  full-bloods  into  a  compliance  with  their 
wishes.  They  told  them  that  the  Kansas  people  had 
designs  upon  their  lands  (which  was  not  altogether  un- 
true), and  that  the  Federal  government  would  free 
their  slaves  and  otherwise  dispossess,  degrade,  and  hu- 
miliate them.  Such  arguments  had  their  effect  and 
there  was  little  at  hand  to  counteract  it,  none  in  the 
memory  of  the  past,  none  in  the  neglect  and  embarrass- 
ment of  the  present,  none  in  the  prospect  of  the  future. 
There  were  no  Federal  troops,  no  new  Federal  assur- 
ances of  protection.  Agent  Crawford,  who  was  the 
only  agent  within  reach,  added  his  threats  and  his  Con- 
federate promises  to  those  of  the  half-breeds.  Then 
came  the  Battle  of  Wilson's  Creek  with  its  disastrous 

431  "Meetings  and  Proceedings  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  July  2,  1861"  [General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  €515]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  217 

Federal  showing,  and  the  exhausted  resisting  power  of 
the  Pins  went  down  before  the  renewed  secessionist 
ardor. 

A  meeting  of  the  Cherokee  Executive  Council  had 
been  called  for  August  first,  and  John  Ross,  Joseph 
Vann,  James  Brown,  John  Drew,  and  William  P.  Ross, 
all  prominent  non-secessionists,  had  attended  it.  On 
this  occasion,  a  general,  or  mass,  meeting  of  the  Chero- 
kee people  was  arranged  for,  in  response  to  a  public 
appeal,  and  the  date  for  it  was  fixed  for  the  twentieth  of 
August.432  In  the  interval  came  the  news  from  Spring- 
field and  another  communication  from  Albert  Pike.433 

The  convention  which  met  at  Tahlequah  in  August 
of  1861  ended  in  the  secession  of  the  Cherokee  Nation. 
While  it  was  in  progress,  the  events  of  the  last  few 
months  were  gone  over  in  thorough  review  and  em- 
phasis placed  upon  those  of  recent  occurrence.  The  at- 
tendance at  the  convention  was  large.434  Both  political 
factions  were  well  represented  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  only  a  slight  show  of  force,  if  any,  from  the  seces- 
sionists. The  Reverend  Evan  Jones  is  our  authority  for 
thinking  that  some  "seventy  or  eighty  of  them  appeared 
there  in  arms  with  the  intention  to  break  up  the  meet- 
ing;" but  that  only  two  of  them  succeeded  in  making 

432  See    "Meetings   and    Proceedings  of   the    Cherokee   Executive   Council, 
August  i,   1861"  [General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  GSIS]. 
*33  pjke  to  Ross,  August  i,  1861  [Ibid,']. 

434  A  general  meeting  of  the  Cherokee  people  was  held  at  Tahlequah  on 
Wednesday,  the  2ist  day  of  August,  1861.  It  was  called  by  the  execu- 
tive of  the  Cherokee  Nation  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  Cherokee  peo- 
ple an  opportunity  to  express  their  opinions  in  relation  to  subjects  of 
deep  interest  to  themselves  as  individuals  and  as  a  nation.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  in  attendance,  almost  exclusively  adult  males,  was  about 
4,000,  whose  deportment  was  characterized  by  good  order  and  propriety, 
and  the  expression  of  whose  opinions  and  feelings  was  frank,  cordial, 
and  of  marked  unanimity.  -  Report  of  the  Proceedings  at  Tahlequah, 
August  21,  1861,  transmitted  to  General  McCulloch  by  the  Executive 
Council,  August  24,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  673]. 


21  8     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

any  disturbance.435  In  the  course  of  the  meeting,  Agent 
Crawford  put  in  an  appearance  and  again  asserted  him- 
self in  behalf  of  the  Confederacy.  He  "appeared  on 
the  platform,"  says  an  eyewitness, 

And  stated  that  although  for  some  time  past  he  had  been  among 
the  Cherokees  acting  as  U.  S.  Agent,  it  had  been  by  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Confederate  authorities,  and  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  when  the  proper  time  arrived  he  should  de- 
clare himself  the  Agent  of  the  C.S.A.  That  time  had  now  come 
making  this  the  proudest  day  of  his  life.436 

435  Evan   Jones  of  the   Baptist  Mission,   Cherokee  Nation,   to   Dole,  dated 
Lawrence,   Kansas,   November   2,    1861    [General   Files,   Cherokee,  1859-1865, 


436  W.  S.  Robertson,  who  for  twelve  years  had  been  "teaching  in  the  Tul- 
lahassee   Manual   Labor  School   in   the   Creek   Nation  under  the  care   of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions"  [Robertson's  Letter  of  September  30, 
1861,  General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ri6is]. 
Robertson  says,  that 

Having  witnessed  the  whole  struggle  between  the  Loyal  &  War  par- 
ties, when  the  latter  prevailed,  I  was  on  the  25th  of  August  ordered  by  a 
party  of  the  "Creek  Light  Horse"  acting  under  the  written  orders  of 
Moty  Kenard  and  Jacob  Derrysaw,  Chief  of  the  Creeks,  to  leave  with- 
in twenty-four  hours  from  the  Creek  country.  I  retired  to  my  friends  at 
Park  Hill  in  the  Cherokee  where  the  same  struggle  was  going  on. 

At  Park   Hill  I  enjoyed  every  facility  for  knowing   the   feelings  of 
the  people,  the  designs  of  the  Executive. 

When  at  last  the  Rebel  flag  flaunted  over  the  council  ground  at  Tahle- 
quah,  I  left  the  Cherokee  country  with  my  family,  and  after  encounter- 
ing many  dangers,  succeeded  in  reaching  Rolla,  on  the  23rd  Sept.  with- 
out giving  any  pledge  to  the  enemy. 

Having  written  to  the  Sec.  of  the  Interior  (from  St.  Louis,  Oct.  is*) 
stating  my  long  residence  among  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  my  means 
of  information,  and  my  desire  to  give  any  information  that  would  ben- 
efit our  Gov't  or  my  loyal  friends  among  the  Indians  -  and  having 
forwarded  all  the  printed  correspondence  between  the  Rebels  and  Chief 
Ross  (except  the  last  letter  of  the  Rebel  commissioner,  Albert  Pike)  to- 
gether with  Chief  Ross'  speech  at  the  Cherokee  Convention  at  Tahle- 
quah,  on  the  2ist  of  Aug.  and  the  resolutions  passed  at  said  Convention, 
without  receiving  any  answer,  I  concluded  that  Col.  Humphrey's  (of 
Tenn.)  mysterious  movements  were  all  right,  that  he  was  loyal,  and 
kept  our  Gov't  well  informed  as  to  the  Rebel  doings  among  the  Indians. 
That  I  had  redeemed  my  pledge  to  loyal  Creeks  &  Cherokees. 

Recent  letters  from  St.  Louis,  &  New  York  stating  that  "Gov't  agents 
are  seeking  information  everywhere,"  and  urging  me  to  write  to  "Gen. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  219 

Such  a  confession  of  baseness  seems  hardly  credible. 
The  secessionist  was  entitled  to  his  opinions  touching 
the  doctrine  of  state  rights,  for  which  a  difference  of 
view  found  its  justification  both  in  fact  and  in  theory. 
He  might  even  conscientiously  believe  in  the  righteous- 
ness of  negro  enslavement,  inasmuch  as  it  really  did 
offer  an  easy  solution  of  a  labor  problem;  and  more- 
Hunter"  &  Washington,  induce  me  to  send  you  my  address,  to  urge  you  in 
the  name  of  humanity  and  justice  not  to  take  decisive  measures  against 
the  betrayed  and  oppressed  people,  until  you  have  heard  all  that  can  be 
said  in  their  behalf.  -  Letter  to  Department  of  the  Interior  and  referred 
to    Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  dated  January  7,   1862    [General 
Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ri664]. 

Mix  answered  it  February  14,  1862  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no. 
67,  P-  35?]- 

In  a  somewhat  earlier  letter,  the  one  from  which  the  extract,  in  the  body 
of  the  text  was  taken,  Robertson  had  said, 

I  am  .  .  .  deeply  interested  in  their  welfare,  acquainted  with 
the  feelings  of  the  people,  well  informed  as  to  the  men  and  measures 
which  have  detached  these  nations  from  their  allegiance  to  the  U.S. 

Chief  among  the  traitors  were  not  only  the  Superintendent  of  that 
District,  and  the  Agents  under  him  appointed  by  the  late  Administra- 
tion but  others  claiming  to  have  received  commissions  as  Indian  Agents 
"since  the  4th  of  March  last"  from  the  U.S.  Gov't. 

On  the  2ist  of  Aug.  last  I  was  in  Tahlequah,  the  capital  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  at  a  convention  of  the  Cherokee  people  called  by  their 
Chief  Jno.  Ross.  .  .-ROBERTSON  to  President  Lincoln,  dated  Winne- 
conne,  Wisconsin,  December  12,  1861  [General  Files,  Southern  Superin- 
tendency, 1859-1862,  Ri6s8]. 

Concerning  the   responsibility   attaching  to  government  agents  for  Indian 
defection,  E.  C.  Boudinot  and  W.  P.  Adair  wrote,  January  19,  1866,  to  Cooley, 

The  Southern  Indians  have  repeatedly  repudiated  the  idea  that  they 
were  induced  by  the  machinations  of  any  persons  to  ally  themselves 
with  the  rebellion,  but  accept  the  full  responsibility  of  their  acts  with- 
out such  excuse. 

The  passage  above  quoted  [meaning  one  from  Coffin's  report  of  Sep- 
tember 24,  1863  -  "They  resisted  the  insidious  influences  which  were 
brought  to  bear  upon  them  by  Rector,  Pike,  Cooper,  Crawford  and  oth- 
er rebel  emissaries  for  a  long  time."]  however  does  great  injustice  to  all 
the  parties  named,  particularly  to  Genl  Cooper,  who  had  no  earthly 
connection  with  the  Cherokees  until  several  months  after.  Mr.  John 
Ross  made  the  treaty  with  the  so-called  Confederate  States.  -  General 
Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  B6o. 


220     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

over,  would  work  under  a  benign  paternalism,  for  the 
thorough,  because  so  gradual,  development  of  an  in- 
ferior race;  but  by  no  standard  of  personal  honor,  or  of 
moral  rectitude  could  conduct  such  as  Crawford's  be 
condoned. 

John  Ross  had  opened  the  meeting  with  an  address 
in  which  he  had  defined  its  purposes  and  his  own  good 
intentions,  both  past  and  present.  Personally,  he 
seemed  still  inclined  to  maintain  a  neutral  attitude  but 
designing  persons  had  made  his  position  most  diffi- 
cult.437 

.  .  .  Our  soil  has  not  been  invaded,  our  peace  has  not 
been  molested,  nor  our  rights  interfered  with  by  either  Gov- 
ernment. On  the  contrary,  the  people  have  remained  at  home, 
cultivated  their  farms  in  security,  and  are  reaping  fruitful  re- 
turns for  their  labors.  But  for  false  fabrications,  we  should 
have  pursued  our  ordinary  vocations  without  any  excitement  at 
home,  or  misrepresentations  and  consequent  misapprehensions 
abroad,  as  to  the  real  sentiments  and  purposes  of  the  Cherokee 
people.  Alarming  reports,  however,  have  been  pertinaciously 
circulated  at  home  and  unjust  imputations  among  the  people  of 
the  States.  The  object  seems  to  have  been  to  create  strife  and 
conflict,  instead  of  harmony  and  good-will,  among  the  people 
themselves,  and  to  engender  prejudice  and  distrust,  instead  of 
kindness  and  confidence,  towards  them  by  the  officers  and  citi- 
zens of  the  Confederate  States.  .  . 

.  .  .  The  great  object  with  me  has  been  to  have  the 
Cherokee  people  harmonious  and  united  in  the  full  and  free  ex- 
ercise and  enjoyment  of  all  their  rights  of  person  and  property. 
Union  is  strength ;  dissension  is  weakness,  misery,  ruin.  In  time 
of  peace,  enjoy  peace  together;  in  time  of  war,  if  war  must  come, 
fight  together.  As  brothers  live,  as  brothers  die.  While  ready 
and  willing  to  defend  our  firesides  from  the  robber  and  murder- 

*37  "Ross  was  overborne.  It  is  said  that  his  wife  was  more  staunch  than 
her  husband  and  held  out  till  the  last.  When  an  attempt  was  made  to  raise 
a  Confederate  flag  over  the  Indian  council  house,  her  opposition  was  so  spirit- 
ed that  it  prevented  the  completion  of  the  design."  -  Howard,  My  life  and  ex- 
periences among  our  hostile  Indians,  100. 


COLONEL  ADAIR,  CHEROKEE 

[From  Smithsonian  Institution,  Bureau  of 
American    Ethnology'] 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  223 

er,  let  us  not  make  war  wantonly  against  the  authority  of  the 
United  or  Confederate  States,  but  avoid  conflict  with  either, 
and  remain  strictly  on  our  own  soil.  We  have  homes  endeared 
to  us  by  every  consideration,  laws  adapted  to  our  condition  of 
our  own  choice,  and  rights  and  privileges  of  the  highest  charac- 
ter. Here  they  must  be  enjoyed  or  nowhere  else.  When  your 
nationality  ceases  here,  it  will  live  nowhere  else.  When  these 
homes  are  lost,  you  will  find  no  others  like  them.  Then,  my 
countrymen,  as  you  regard  your  own  rights,  as  you  regard  the 
welfare  of  your  posterity,  be  prudent  how  you  act.  The  per- 
manent disruption  of  the  United  States  is  now  probable.  The 
State  on  our  border  and  the  Indian  nations  about  us  have  sev- 
ered their  connection  from  the  United  States  and  joined  the 
Confederate  States.  Our  general  interests  are  inseparable  from 
theirs,  and  it  is  not  desirable  that  we  should  stand  alone.  The 
preservation  of  our  rights  and  of  our  existence  are  above  every 
other  consideration.  And  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of 
our  situation  I  do  say  to  you  frankly  that  in  my  opinion  the  time 
has  now  come  when  you  should  signify  your  consent  for  the  au- 
thorities of  the  nation  to  adopt  preliminary  steps  for  an  alliance 
with  the  Confederate  States  upon  terms  honorable  and  advan- 
tageous to  the  Cherokee  Nation.488 

After  having  received  this  most  solemn  of  warnings, 
"and  a  few  pertinent  and  forcible  remarks  from  Col- 
onel Crawford,"  the  meeting  organized  with  Joseph 
Vann  as  president  and  William  P.  Ross  as  secretary. 
To  effect  a  reconciliation  between  the  contending  fac- 
tions and  to  decide  upon  some  national  policy  that 
should  be  acceptable  to  the  majority  of  the  people, 
were,  undoubtedly,  the  objects  sought  and  so,  after 
much  discussion,  a  series  of  resolutions  was  adopted  in 
which  these  ideas  were  given  prominence  as  well  as 
some  of  kindred  importance.  The  resolutions  asserted 
the  legal  and  constitutional  right  of  property  in  slaves 
and,  in  no  doubtful  terms,  a  friendship  for  the  Confed- 

*38  por  the  entire  address  of  John  Ross,  see  Official  Record,  first  sen,  vol. 
iii,  673-675. 


224     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

eracy.  Yet  the  convention  itself  took  no  definite  action 
towards  consummating  an  alliance  but  left  everything 
to  the  discretion  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the 
nation,  in  whom  it  announced  an  unwavering  con- 
fidence. 

Whereas  we,  the  Cherokee  people,  have  been  invited  by  the 
executive  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  in  compliance  with  the  request 
of  many  citizens,  to  meet  in  general  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of 
drawing  more  closely  the  bonds  of  friendship  and  sympathy 
which  should  characterize  our  conduct  and  mark  our  feelings 
towards  each  other  in  view  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which 
have  arisen  from  the  fearful  condition  of  affairs  among  the  peo- 
ple of  the  several  States,  and  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  free 
and  frank  expression  of  the  real  sentiments  we  cherish  towards 
each  other,  and  of  our  true  position  in  regard  to  questions  which 
affect  the  general  welfare,  and  particularly  on  that  of  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery:  Therefore  be  it  hereby 

Resolved,  That  we  fully  approve  the  neutrality  recommended 
by  the  principal  chief  in  the  war  pending  between  the  United 
and  the  Confederate  States,  and  tender  to  General  McCulloch 
our  thanks  for  the  respect  he  has  shown  to  our  position. 

Resolved,  That  we  renew  the  pledges  given  by  the  executive 
of  this  nation  of  the  friendship  of  the  Cherokees  towards  the 
people  of  all  the  States,  and  particularly  towards  those  on  our 
immediate  border,  with  whom  our  relations  have  been  har- 
monious and  cordial,  and  from  whom  they  should  not  be  sep- 
arated. 

Resolved,  that  we  also  take  occasion  to  renew  to  the  Creeks, 
Choctaws,  Seminoles,  Chickasaws,  and  Osages,  and  others,  as- 
surances of  continued  friendship  and  brotherly  feeling. 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  disavow  any  wish  or  purpose  to 
create  or  perpetuate  any  distinctions  between  the  citizens  of  our 
country  as  to  the  full  and  mixed  blood,  but  regard  each  and  all 
as  our  brothers,  and  entitled  to  equal  rights  and  privileges  ac- 
cording to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  nation. 

Resolved,  That  we  proclaim  unwavering  attachment  to  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  and  solemnly 
pledge  ourselves  to  defend  and  support  the  same,  and  as  far  as 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  225 

in  us  lies  to  secure  to  the  citizens  of  the  nation  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  which  they  guarantee  to  them. 

Resolved,  That  among  the  rights  guaranteed  by  the  constitu- 
tion and  laws  we  distinctly  recognize  that  of  property  in  negro 
slaves,  and  hereby  publicly  denounce  as  calumniators  those  who 
represent  us  to  be  abolitionists,  and  as  a  consequence  hostile  to 
the  South,  which  is  both  the  land  of  our  birth  and  the  land  of 
our  homes. 

Resolved,  That  the  great  consideration  with  the  Cherokee 
people  should  be  a  united  and  harmonious  support  and  defense  of 
their  common  rights,  and  we  hereby  pledge  ourselves  to  mutually 
sustain  our  nationality,  and  to  defend  our  lives  and  the  integrity 
of  our  homes  and  soil  whenever  the  same  shall  be  wantonly  as- 
sailed by  lawless  marauders. 

Resolved,  That,  reposing  full  confidence  in  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  we  submit  to  their  wisdom 
the  management  of  all  questions  which  affect  our  interests  grow- 
ing out  of  the  exigencies  of  the  relations  between  the  United  and 
Confederate  States  of  America,  and  which  may  render  an  alli- 
ance on  our  part  with  the  latter  States  expedient  and  desirable. 

And  which  resolutions,  upon  the  question  of  their  passage  be- 
ing put,  were  carried  by  acclamation.  JOSEPH  VANN,  President. 
Wm.  P.  Ross,  Secretary. 
Tahlequah,  C.N.,  August  21,  i86i.439 

In  making  his  plans,  prior  to  the  Battle  of  Wilson's 
Creek,  for  effecting  a  junction  with  Price  and  cooper- 
ating with  him  and  others  in  southwest  Missouri,  Mc- 
Culloch  acted,  not  under  direct  orders  from  Richmond, 
but  from  his  own  desire  to  take  such  a  position  opposite 
the  Cherokee  Neutral  Lands,  once  so  outrageously  in- 
truded upon  by  Kansas  settlers  and  now  being  made  the 
highway  of  marauders  entering  Missouri,  as  would 
make  it  appear  to  the  Cherokees  that  he  was  there  as 
their  friend  and  as  the  protector  of  their  interests. 
After  the  battle,  he  refused,  and  rightly  in  view  of  his 

439  Official  Record,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  675-676.  A  slightly  incorrect  copy  of 
these  same  resolutions  is  to  be  found  in  vol.  xiii,  499-500. 


226     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

own  special  commission,  to  accompany  Price  in  his 
forward  march  towards  the  Missouri  River.  Instead 
he  drew  back  into  the  neighborhood  of  the  Cherokee 
boundary  and  there  developed  his  plans  for  attacking 
Kansas,  should  such  a  course  be  deemed  necessary  in 
order  to  protect  Indian  Territory. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  Cherokees  as  a  nation 
expressed  their  preference  for  the  South  and  for  the 
southern  cause,  moved  thereto,  however,  by  the  pecu- 
liarities and  the  difficulties  of  their  situation.  The  Ex- 
ecutive Council  lost  no  time  in  communicating44'  to 
McCulloch  the  decision  of  the  Tahlequah  mass-meet- 
ing and  their  own  determination  to  carry  out  its  wishes 
by  effecting  an  alliance  with  the  Confederacy  "as  early 
as  practicable."  They  realized  very  clearly  that  this 
might  "give  rise  to  movements  against  the  Cherokee 
people  upon  their  northern  border"  and  were  resolved 
to  be  prepared  for  such  an  emergency.  They,  there- 
fore, authorized  the  raising  of  a  regiment  of  mounted 
men,  home  guards  they  were  to  be  and  to  be  so  desig- 
nated, officered  by  appointment  of  the  principal  chief, 
Colonel  John  Drew  being  made  the  colonel.  It  would 
appear  that  the  nucleus  of  this  regiment,  and  with  a 
strong  southern  bias,  had  made441  its  appearance  prior 
to  the  Tahlequah  meeting  and  the  circumstance  gave 
rise  to  the  suspicion  that  the  Cherokees  had  not  been  act- 
ing in  good  faith.  After  the  war,  the  suspicion  con- 
centrated, very  unjustly,  upon  John  Ross  and  was  made 
the  most  of  by  Commissioner  Cooley  at  the  Fort  Smith 

440  John  Ross  and  others  to  McCulloch,  August  24,  1861  [Official  Records, 
first  sen,  vol.  iii,  673]. 

441  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865.     The  Report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs  to  President  Johnson,  February  25,  1866,  in  answer 
to  the  Cherokee  protest  against  Chief  Ross's  deposition  contains  this  statement: 

As  early  as  June  or  July,  the  exact  date   is  not  known,  John  Ross 
authorized  the  raising  of  Drew's  Regiment,  for  the  Southern  army.     .     . 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  227 

conference;  in  order  to  accomplish,  for  reasons  dishon- 
orable to  the  United  States  government,  the  aged  chief's 
deposition. 

Drew's  regiment  of  home  guards  was  tendered  to 
McCulloch  and  he  agreed  to  accept  it442  but  not  until 
after  a  treaty  of  alliance  should  have  been  actually  con- 
summated between  the  Cherokees  and  the  Confederate 
States.  Pending  the  accomplishment  of  that  highly  de- 
sirable object,  McCulloch  promised  to  protect  the 
Cherokee  borders  with  his  own  troops  and  confessed443 
that  he  had  already  authorized  the  enlistment  of  an- 
other force  of  Cherokees  under  the  command  of 
Stand  Watie,  which  had  been  designed  to  protect  that 
same  northern  border  but  "not  to  interfere  with  the 
neutrality  of  the  Nation  by  occupying  a  position  within 
its  limits." 

It  is  not  easy  to  decide  just  when  or  by  whom  the  use 
of  Indians  by  the  Federals  in  the  border  warfare444  was 

442  McCulloch  to  Ross,  September  i,  1861   [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
iii,  690]. 

443  —  Ibid. ;  McCulloch  to  John  Drew,  September  i,  1861  [ibid.,  691]. 

444  In  the  course  of  the  war,  both  inside  and  outside  of  Kansas,  many  in- 
stances occurred   of  Indians'   expressing  a  wish  to  fight  or  of  their  services 
being   earnestly  solicited.     In   late   April    of    1861,    a   deputation,    headed   by 
White  Cloud,  came  east  and  tendered  to  the   United   States   government  the 
services   of   some   three    hundred    warriors,    Sioux    and    Chippewas   [Moore's 
Rebellion  Record,  vol.  i,  43]. 

Agent  Burleigh,  in  charge  of  the  Yancton  Sioux,  asked  permission  to 
garrison  Fort  Randall  with  Indians  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report, 
1861,  p.  118].  The  Omahas  manifested  great  interest  in  the  war,  so  their 
agent,  O.  H.  Irish,  reported  [ibid.,  p.  65].  Towards  the  end  of  the  struggle 
a  young  recruiting  officer,  who  went  among  them,  persuaded  about  thirty 
youths,  mostly  students  at  the  Mission  School,  to  enlist.  Their  terms  had  not 
expired  when  the  war  closed,  so  they  were  sent  out  as  scouts  to  protect  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad,  in  course  of  construction  from  Denver  to  Salt  Lake 
City,  against  the  Sioux  who  were  attacking  workmen  and  emigrants.  Even 
Senecas  from  the  far  away  Cattaraugus  Reservation,  New  York,  offered  to 
enlist  [Dole  to  Strong,  December  7,  1861,  Indian  Office  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  p. 
129]  ;  and  so  did  the  Pawnees  from  the  great  plains.  The  United  States  gov- 
ernment, however,  refused  to  accept  the  Pawnees  for  anything  but  scouts  and, 


228     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

first  suggested.  As  late  as  May  twenty-second,  Gov- 
ernor Charles  Robinson  of  Kansas,  in  a  letter445  to 
Superintendent  Branch,  protested  against  even  so  much 
as  arming  them,  which  would  certainly  indicate  that  a 

in  that  capacity,  they  proved  exceedingly  useful  [Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Report,  1869,  p.  472].  Winnebagoes  were  in  the  United  States  employ 
[Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  13,  pp.  276-277],  as  were  also  many  indi- 
viduals from  other  tribes.  Some  Indians  became  commissioned  officers  and  a 
number  were  at  the  head  of  companies.  Captain  Dorion  of  Company  B, 
Regiment  Fourteenth  Kansas  Volunteers  was  an  Iowa  {ibid.,  261]  and  Eli 
S.  Parker  on  General  Grant's  staff  was  a  Seneca. 

After  the  Enrollment  Act  of  March  3,  1863  [United  States  Statutes  at 
Large,  vol.  xii,  731-737]  was  passed,  several  attempts  were  made  to  force  the 
Indians  to  serve  in  the  army  but  Mix,  the  Acting  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  declared  they  were  exempt  from  the  draft  [Letter  to  Agent  D.  C. 
Leach,  September  4,  1863,  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  71,  p.  354].  On  the 
sixteenth  of  July,  1863,  the  United  States  War  Department  inquired  very  par- 
ticularly as  to  the  Indian  eligibility  for  enrollment  and  Secretary  Usher  took 
occasion  to  instruct  Mix  that  the  respective  agents  should  be 

Directed  to  offer  no  resistance  to  the  enrolling  officers,  after  notifying  said 
officers  of  the  fact,  that  the  tribe  or  tribes  under  their  charge  are  com- 
posed of  Indians  who  have  not  acquired  the  rights  of  Citizenship,  but 
immediately  upon  being  informed  of  the  drafting  of  any  member  of 
his  tribe,  he  will  report  the  case  to  the  Comr  of  Indian  Affairs,  for  such 
action  as  may  be  necessary  to  procure  the  exemption  of  the  Indians  from 
military  service.  -  Letter  of  Secretary  Usher,  September  12,  1863,  Mis- 
cellaneous Files,  1858-1863. 

445  The  bearer  has  a  train  of  goods  at  this  point  en  route  for  the  In- 
dians on  the  western  border  of  the  State,  containing  quite  a  quantity 
of  arms  &  ammunition. 

There  is  great  excitement  in  the  community  with  reference  to 
arming  the  Indians  at  the  present  time,  as  for  several  days  past  re- 
ports have  come  to  us  that  our  frontier  settlements  are  in  danger  of  at- 
tack from  hostile  Indians  who  are  collecting  in  the  neighborhood.  I 
am  daily  importuned  to  send  them  aid.  Also,  report  says,  and  it  seems 
very  reliable,  that  the  Indians  on  our  southern  border  are  arming  them- 
selves against  our  citizens.  In  addition  to  these  Indian  rumors  it  is 
believed  by  many  that  these  arms  are  in  danger  of  falling  into  the 
hands  of  secessionists,  before  reaching  their  destination.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  that  class  of  men  have  recently  passed  up  this  way  (Topeka) 
and  through  Riley  County.  In  this  condition  of  affairs  I  do  not  think 
these  arms  &  ammunition  can  be  taken  west  without  an  escort,  as  the 
rabble  will  be  almost  certain  to  waylay  them  as  soon  as  they  get  on  the 
Pottawatomie  Reserve.  I  can  protect  them  while  in  this  county  &  will 
do  so,  but  cannot  follow  them.  Would  it  not  be  well,  if  you  have  the 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  229 

general  use  of  their  services  had  not  yet  been  thought 
of  or  resorted  to;  but,  in  August,  when  Senator  James 
H.  Lane  was  busy  organizing  his  brigade  of  volunteers 
for  the  defense  of  Kansas,  he  resolved,446  rather  offi- 

authority,  to  direct  the  bearer  to  leave  that  part  of  his  freight  in  charge 
of  the  U.S.  Marshal,  or  in  my  charge,  until  there  shall  be  a  change 
of  circumstances,  or  until  further  orders  from  Washington? 

Although  I  would  not  undertake  to  oppose  the  action  of  Government 
in  the  matter  and  would  not  interfere   unless  it  should  be  to  prevent 
the  property  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  a  mob,  yet  I  do  think  under 
the  circumstances  it  is  very  bad  policy  to  arm  the  Indians  on  the  bor- 
der.    I  feel  very  sure  from  what  I  learn,  they  will  be  used  against  our 
citizens   within   three  months   time.     I   am    ready  to   co-operate    at  all 
times  with  the  U.S.  authorities.     .     .  -  General  Files,  Central  Superin- 
tendency,  7860-1862,  6479.     See  also  Branch's  reply,  May  23,  ibid. 
446  H.  B.  Branch  to  Mix,   September   16,  1861,  transmitting  a  letter  from 
Agent  Farnsworth  of  September  13,  1861,  enclosing  communications  from  Sen- 
ator Lane,  Captain  Price,  and  others,  "relative  to  organizing  the  Indians  for 
the  defense  of  the  Government"  [General  Files,  Kansas,  1855-1862,  6774]. 
Headquarters  K.B.  Ft.  Lincoln,  Aug.  22<*  1861. 
To    Indian    Agents    Sac    and     Foxes- Shawnees -Delawares-Kicka- 

poos  -  Potawatomies  -  and  Kaws- Tribes  of  Indians 

GENTS:  For  the  defence  of  Kansas  I  have  determined  to  use  the 
loyal  Indians  of  the  Tribes  above  named.  To  this  end  I  have  appoint- 
ed Augustus  Wattles,  Esq  to  confer  with  you  and  adopt  such  measures 
as  will  secure  the  early  assembling  of  the  Indians  at  this  point. 

If  you  have  the  means  within  your  control  I  would  like  to  have  you 
supply  them  when  they  march  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  powder, 
lead  &  subsistence  for  their  march  to  this  place,  where  they  will  be  fed 
by  the  Government. 

You  can  assure  them  for  the  Govt  that  they  will  not  be  marched 
out  of  Kansas  without  their  consent -that  they  will  be  used  only  for  the 
defence  of  Kansas. 

I  enjoin  each  of  you  to  be  prompt  and  energetic  that  an  early  as- 
sembling of  said  Indians  at  this  point  may  thereby  be  secured. 

J.  H.  LANE,  Commanding  Kansas  Brigade. 
By  ABRAM  CUTLER,  Acting  assistant  Adgt-Gen. 

The  danger  is  imminent.  Hordes  of  whites  &  half  breeds  in  the 
Indian  country  are  in  arms  driving  out  &  killing  Union  men.  They 
threaten  to  overrun  Kansas  and  exterminate  both  whites  &  Indians.  It 
it  rumored  that  John  Ross,  the  Cherokee  Chief  is  likely  to  be  overcome 
unless  he  is  assisted. 

The  Osages  also  need  assistance.  Gen.  Lane  intends  to  establish  a 
strong  Indian  camp  near  the  neutral  lands  as  a  guard  to  prevent  forage 
into  Kansas.  He  is  very  solicitous  that  you  should  come  if  possible 


230     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ciously,  one  might  think,  upon  using  some  of  the  Kan- 
sas River  tribes  in  establishing  "a  strong  Indian  camp 
near  the  neutral  lands  to  prevent  forage  into  Kansas" 
and  arranged  for  a  conference  with  the  Indians  at  Fort 

with  the  Chiefs  &  see  him  at  Ft.  Lincoln  on  the  Little  Osage  10  miles 
south  of  Mound  City. 

If  you  do  come,  please  bring  all  the  fighting  men  you  can,  of  all 
Kinds.  Men  are  needed. 

If  you  do  not  come,  please  authorise  some  responsible  man  to  lead 
the  Indians  as  far  as  Ft.  Lincoln  where  Gen.  Lane  will  receive  them 
and  give  them  a  big  war  talk.  Bring  an  interpreter.  Expenses  will 
be  paid. 

Congress  will  undoubtedly  make  suitable  acknowledgements  to  the 
Kaws,  as  an  independent  nation,  for  any  valuable  services  which  they 
may  render.  .  . 

P.S.  A  Captain's  wages  will  be  given  to  any  competent  man  whom 
you  may  appoint  to  take  the  lead  of  the  band,  provided  there  are  fifty 
or  more.  -  AUGUSTUS  WATTLES  to  Major  Farnsworth,  dated  Sac  and 
Fox  Agency,  Kansas,  August  25,  1861. 

Wattles  had  evidently  not  yet  heard  of  the  Tahlequah  mass-meeting.  Pos- 
tal connections  with  Indian  Territory  were,  of  necessity,  very  poor.  Dole 
had  recommended,  May  29,  1861,  to  Secretary  Smith  a  new  postal  route 
through  southwest  Missouri  or  southern  Kansas  instead  of  the  old  route 
through  Arkansas  [Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  12,  p.  170]. 

The  Confederates  were  similarly  embarrassed.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of 
May,  the  postmaster  at  Fort  Smith  had  complained  to  the  postmaster-general 
J.  H.  Reagan, 

Enclosed  please  find  letter  of  G.  B.  Hester  (a  Choctaw  who  was 
made  quarter-master  and  commissary  in  the  First  Choctaw  Regiment 
and,  in  1865,  "cotton  agent  for  the  Creek  Indians  who  were  at  that  time 
squatting  in  the  Chickasaw  Nation."  See  O'Beirne's  Leaders  and  Lead- 
ing Men  of  the  Indian  Territory)  at  Boggy  Depot,  C.N.  You  will 
see  they  are  without  mails  in  that  country.  For  three  weeks  the  mails 
for  the  Indian  country  have  been  accumulating  in  this  office.  I  sent 
forward  all  the  mail  that  could  be  packed  on  a  single  horse.  .  .  I 
cannot  get  men  to  carry  the  mail.  They  say  they  are  afraid  of  being 
robbed  or  murdered.  .  .  Our  neighbours,  the  Indians  must  suffer 
great  inconvenience  on  account  of  the  stoppage  of  mail  facilities.  All 
tribes  are  in  favor  of  the  South  except  the  Cherokees.  A  little  good 
talk  would  do  them  good,  perhaps  a  little  powder  and  lead  might  help 
the  cause.  Ross  and  his  party  are  not  to  be  relied  on.  -  Fort  Smith 
Papers. 
Mayers  wrote  Reagan  in  a  similar  vein  a  month  later,  on  June  26,  1861, 

Our  mails  throughout  the  Cherokee,  Choctaw,  Chickasaw  &  Creek 
nations  have  all  been  stopped  by  the  old  mail  carriers.  .  .  -  Ibid. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  231 

Lincoln,  his  headquarters.  Soon,  however,  a  stay  of 
execution  was  ordered447  until  the  matter  could  be  dis- 
cussed, in  its  larger  aspects,  with  Commissioner  Dole, 
to  whom  courtesy,448  at  least,  would  have  demanded  that 
the  whole  affair  should  have  been  first  submitted. 

Dole  was  then  in  Kansas4*9  and  before  long  became 
aware450  that  General  Fremont  was  also  favoring  the 

447  On  August  26,  1861,  Wattles  wrote  Farnsworth  from  Lawrence, 

I  wrote  you  a  few  days  ago  concerning  the  employment  of  the  In- 
dians in  the  defence  of  our  frontier. 

The  necessity  seemed  imperative.  But  on  hearing  that  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs  was  in  Kansas  and  will  probably  see  you  - 
I  think  it  best  to  say  nothing  to  the  Indians  till  he  is  consulted  in  the 
matter. 

Gen.  Lane  has  60  miles  of  the  Missouri  border  to  guard,  and  an  army 
of  at  least  double  his  to  hold  in  check,  which  employs  all  his  force  night 
&  day. 

Besides  this,  he  has  the  Indian  frontier  on  the  south  of  about  too 
miles.  This  he  intends  to  intrust  to  the  loyal  Indians  - 1  will  add,  if 
the  Commissioner  agrees  to  it. 

The  stay  of  execution  was  not  of  long  duration,  however;  for,  September 
10,  1861,  J.  E.  Prince  sent  Farnsworth  from  Fort  Leavenworth  a  circular  re- 
questing immediate  enrollment  and  an  estimate  of  the  strength  of  the  loyal 
Indians. 

4*8  The  conduct  of  Lane  was  presumptuous,  arrogant,  dictatorial ;  but  he 
had  interfered  in  yet  other  ways  in  Indian  concerns.  He  must  have  had  quite 
a  hold,  political  or  otherwise,  over  several  of  the  agents  and  they  appealed 
to  him  in  matters  that  ought,  in  the  first  instance,  to  have  been  referred  to  the 
Indian  Office  and  left  there.  Thus,  in  July,  Agent  F.  Johnson  had  approached 
Lane  on  the  subject  of  having  Charles  Journeycake  appointed  Delaware  chief 
in  place  of  Rock-a-to-wa  deceased.  Both  Pomeroy  and  Lane  endorsed  the 
appointment  but  it  was  unquestionably  entirely  out  of  their  province  to  do  so. 
Tribal  politics  were  assuredly  no  concern  of  the  Kansas  delegation  in  Con- 
gress. 

449  Dole  had   gone  to  Kansas  in  the  latter  part  of  August  "to  submit  in 
person  the  amendments,  made  by  the  Senate  at  its  last  session,  to  the  Delaware 
treaty  of  May  30,  1860"  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  n]. 

450  I   find  here  your  letter  to  the  Agent  of  the  Delaware,    requesting 
Fall  Leaf  to  organize  a  party  of  50  men  for  the   service  of  your  De- 
partment.    Mr.  Johnson  the  Agent  called  the  tribe  together  before  I  ar- 
rived here,  and  found  the  Chiefs  unwilling  that  their  young  men  should 
enter  the  service   as  you  desired.     Since  my   arrival   I    have  seen   the 
Chiefs  and  stated  to  them  that  the  Government  was  not  asking  them  to 
enter  the  war  as  a  tribe  but  that  we  wished  to  employ  some  of  the  tribe 


232     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

enlistment  of  Indians,  or,  at  all  events,  their  employ- 
ment by  the  army  in  some  capacity.  He  had  ap- 
proached Agent  Johnson  on  the  subject,  his  immediate 
purpose  being  to  request  Fall  Leaf,  a  Delaware,  "to 
organize  a  party  of  50  men  for  the  service  of"  his  de- 
partment. Agent  Johnson  called  the  tribe  together  and 
discovered  that  the  chiefs  were  much  averse  to  having 
their  young  men  enlist.  Dole  inquired  into  the  matter 
and  assured451  the  chiefs  that  a  few  braves  only  were 
needed  and  those  simply  for  special  service  and  that 
there  was  no  intention  of  asking  the  tribe,  as  a  tribe,  to 
give  its  services.  The  chiefs  refused  consent,  notwith- 
standing; but  Fall  Leaf  and  a  few  others  like  him  did 
enlist.452  They  were  probably  among  the  fifty-three 
Delawares,  subsequently  reported453  as  having  been  em- 
ployed by  Fremont  to  act  as  scouts  and  guides.  Fall 
Leaf  attained  the  rank  of  captain.454  Superintendent 

for  Special  Service  and  wished  the  Chiefs  to  make  no  objection.  I 
could  not  however  get  their  consent  even  to  acquiesce  in  their  men  Vol- 
unteering for  the  service  as  you  desired,  &  Fall  Leaf  and  several  of  the 
tribe  are  here  and  determined  to  tender  you  their  Services,  with  my 
consent.  I  have  advised  them  that  they  are  at  Liberty  to  join  you  if  they 
choose.  Fall  Leaf  says  he  will  be  able  to  report  at  Fort  Leavenworth 
in  a  very  few  days  with  twenty  to  twenty  five  men.  Should  you  require 
more  men,  you  will  have  probably  to  call  on  some  other  tribe.  Those  men 
who  volunteer  against  the  advice  of  their  Chiefs  should  be  particularly 
remembered  by  the  Gov't.  -  DOLE  to  Fremont,  dited  Leavenworth  City, 
September  13,  1861  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  66,  p.  485]. 
451  —  Ibid. 

452 1  am  instructed  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the 
i3th  inst.,  and  to  state  that  the  Commanding  General  will  accept  with 
pleasure  the  services  of  Fall  Leaf  and  his  men. 

Other  tribes  will  be  applied  to  immediately.  I  have  written  to  the 
same  effect  to  Mr.  Johnson,  at  the  Deleware  Agency.  -  JOHN  R.  HOW- 
ARD, captain  and  secretary,  to  William  P.  Dole,  dated  Headquarters, 
Western  Department,  at  St.  Louis,  September  20,  1861  [General  Files, 
Central  Superintendency,  1860-1862], 

453  F.  Johnson  to  Dole,  June  6,  1862  [General  Files,  Delaware,  1862-1866]. 

454  Dole   to  Captain  Fall  Leaf,  November  12,   1863   [Indian  Office,   Letter 
Book,  no.  72,  p.  109]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  233 

Branch,455  be  it  said,  and  also  Commissioner  Dole,458  at 
this  stage  of  the  war,  were  strongly  opposed  to  a  general 
use  of  the  Indians  for  purposes  of  active  warfare.  They 
knew  only  too  well  what  it  was  likely  to  lead  to.  In- 
deed, the  most  that  Dole  had,  up  to  date,  agreed457  to, 
was  the  supplying  the  Indians  with  the  means  of  their 
own  defense  when  United  States  troops  had  shown 
themselves  quite  unavailable. 

Dole's  opinion  being  such,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  sup- 
posed that  he  could  have  considered  favorably  Senator 
Lane's  idea  of  an  Indian  camp  in  the  Cherokee  Neutral 
Lands  or  the  one,  developed  later,  of  an  Indian  patrol 
along  the  southern  boundary  of  Kansas.  Lane's 
troubles,  quite  apart  from  his  Indian  projects,  were 
daily  increasing;  and,  considering  the  method  of  war- 
fare indulged  in  by  him  and  encouraged  in  his  white 
troops,  the  same  one  that  pro-slavery  and  free-state  men 
had  equally  experimented  with  in  squatter-sovereignty 
days,  it  would  have  been  simply  deplorable  to  have  per- 
mitted him  the  free  use  of  Indian  warriors.  Com- 
plaints458 of  Lane  and  of  his  brigade,  of  their  jayhawk- 
ing  and  of  their  marauding  were  being  made  on  every 

455  Report  to   Dole,    October  22,    1861    [Commissioner   of    Indian   Affairs, 
Report,   1861,  p.  50]  ;  Report  to  Dole,  September  17,   1862   [Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  Report,  1862,  p.  98], 

456  I   send  you   a   letter  to   General  Fremont  open   that  you   may  read 
and    understand    its   object.     Fall   Leaf  will    call    upon  you    probably 
this  afternoon  and  receive  from  you  such  information  as  you  see  proper 
to  give  him.     I  am   disinclined  to  encourage  the  Indians  to  engage  in 
this  war  except  in  extreme  cases,  as  guides.     I  have  in  this  case  used 
my  influence  in  favor  of  the   formation  of  this  Company,  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  views  of  Gov't,  supposing  Gen1  Fremont  was  a  special 
need  of  them  or  he  would  not  have  made  the  request.     .     .  -  DOLE  to 
Captain  Price,  dated  Leavenworth,   September  13,  1861    [Indian  Office, 
Letter  Book,  no.  66,  pp.  485-486]. 

457  Letter   of  August   15,   1861    [Commissioner   of  Indian   Affairs,  Report, 
1861,  p.  39]. 

458  General   Orders,  no.  23    [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  iii,  539]. 


234     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

hand.  Governor  Robinson439  reported  these  complaints 
and  endorsed  them.  Secretary  Cameron,  while  making 
his  western  tour  of  investigation,  heard460  them  and  re- 
ported them  also.  Lane  attributed461  them  to  personal 
dislike  of  him,  to  envy,  to  everything,  in  fact,  except 
their  true  cause;  but  we  know  now  that  they  were  all 
well-grounded.  Yet,  remarkable  to  relate,  Lane's  in- 
fluence with  Lincoln  and  with  the  War  Department  suf- 
fered no  appreciable  decline.  His  suggestions462  were 
acted  upon;  and,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  he  was  even 
permitted  to  organize  a  huge  jayhawking  expedition 
at  the  beginning  of  the  next  year. 

The  mention  of  Lane's  jayhawking  expedition  calls 
to  mind  the  conditions  that  made  it  seem,  at  the  time,  an 
acceptable  thing  and  takes  us  back  in  retrospect  to  In- 
dian Territory  and  to  the  events  occurring  there  after 
the  Tahlequah  mass-meeting  of  the  twenty-first  of  Au- 
gust. As  soon  as  the  meeting  had  broken  up,  John  Ross 
despatched463  a  messenger  to  Albert  Pike  to  inform  him 
of  all  that  had  happened  and  of  the  Cherokee  willing- 
ness, at  last,  to  negotiate  with  the  Confederacy.  It  was 
arranged  that  Pike  should  come  to  the  Cherokee  coun- 
try, taking  up  his  quarters  temporarily  at  Park  Hill, 

459  Villard  says,  as  early  as  1856,  rivalry  had  developed  between  Robinson 
and  Lane  [John  Brown,  108]. 

460  Thomas  to  Fremont,   October  14,  1861    [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol. 

»i,  533]. 

461  Lane  to  Lincoln,  October  9,  1861   {ibid.,  529]. 

462  It  would  seem  as  if  Lane  were  remotely  responsible  for  the  division  of 
the  Western  Department  into  the  Department  of  Kansas  and  the  Department 
of  Missouri.     In  his  letter  to  President  Lincoln  of  October  9,  1861,  he  described 
the  good  work  that  his  Kansas  Brigade  had  done   and  asked  that,  in  order 
that  it  might  be  enabled  to  continue  to  do  effective  work,  a  new  military  de- 
partment be  created,  one  that  should  group  together  Kansas,  Indian  Territory, 
and  so  much  of  Arkansas  and  the  territories  as  should  be  advisable  [ibid.']. 

463  Ross's  Address  to  Drew's  Regiment,  December  19,  1861   [Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  355]  ;  Letter  of  Albert  Pike  to  D.  N.  Cooley, 
February  17,  1866. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  235 

the  home  of  Ross  near  Tahlequah,  and  that  a  general 
Indian  council  should  be  called.  A  special  effort  was 
made  to  have  the  fragmentary  bands  of  the  northeast 
represented  and  Pike  sent  out  various  agents464  to  urge 
an  attendance.  John  Ross  was  also  active  in  the  same 
interest.  He,  personally,  communicated  with  the 
Osages465  and  with  the  Creeks466  by  letter;  but  the 

464  "Chisholm"   the   well   known   interpreter  has   been  sent  to  the  Co- 
rnanches,    Creeks  to   the   Osages  -  Matthews    to  the   Senecas    Quapaws 
&c.    .     .-ROBERTSON  in   a  letter,  dated  St.  Louis,  September  30,  1861 
[General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ri6i5]. 

.  .  .  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  Albert  Pike  called  a  General 
Council  of  the  same  tribes  to  meet  at  Talloqua  and  in  order  to  secure 
their  attendance  stated  that  John  Ross  was  to  make  a  speech  ...  he 
sent  Dorn  late  U.S.  Indian  Agent  to  notify  the  Osages,  Quapaws  Sen- 
ecas &  Shawnees  that  there  was  to  be  a  Council  at  Talloqua  and  that 
Ross  was  going  to  talk  at  the  same  time  to  tell  them  that  the  U.S. 
Government  was  breaking  up  -  that  they  would  get  no  more  money  and 
that  they  were  about  to  send  an  Army  to  take  their  Negroes  and  drive 
them  from  the  country  and  pointed  to  Missouri  in  proof  of  it,  when 
the  Council  met  at  Talloqua  instead  of  Ross  the  council  was  opened  by 
Pike  who  told  them  "We  are  here  to  protect  our  property  and  to  save 
our  Country.  .  .-BAPTISTE  PEORIA. 

Baptiste  Peoria,  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1862,  went  around  as  a 
secret  agent  of  the  United  States  government  among  the  southern  Indians 
finding  out  their  real  sentiments  respecting  the  war.  The  report  from  which 
the  above  extract  is  taken  is  dated  May  i,  1862,  and  is  in  General  Files,  Osage 
River,  1855-1862,  61430. 

465  FORT   SMITH,  ARKANSAS,  September  i9th  1865. 
In  a  talk  held  at  the  rooms  of  the  Commission,  with  Commissioners 

Sells  and  Parker,  the  following  statement  was  this  day  voluntarily  made 
by  Shon-tah-sob-ba  ("Black  Dog")  the  Chief  of  the  Black  Dog  band  of 
the  Osage  Indians,  relating  to  a  treaty  with  the  so-called  Confederate 
States.  In  answer  to  a  question  by  Commissioner  Sells,  "How  did  you 
happen  to  be  in  this  Southern  Country?"  Shon-tah-sob-ba  (Black  Dog) 
replied  "I  am  glad  you  have  asked  that  question,  for  I  wish  to  make 
some  statements  in  explanation.  We  came  down  here  upon  the  invitation 
of  John  Ross,  Principal  Chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  who  sent  us  a 
letter  asking  us  to  attend  a  Council  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty 
with  Albert  Pike"  - 

COMMR  SELLS -Have  you  that  letter  now  in  your  possession? 

ANSWER:  We  don't  know  where  the  letter  is.  It  was  sent  to  Cler- 
mont,  whose  son  had  it  in  his  possession  when  he  died  &  we  suppose  it 
was  buried  with  him.  But  I  have  it  here  in  my  head  &  will  never 


236     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Creeks,467  like  Evan  Jones,468  seem  to  have  been  incred- 
ulous as  to  Cherokee  defection.  They  seem  to  have 
doubted  the  genuineness  of  the  letter  sent  to  them  and 

forget  it.  John  Ross,  the  Cherokee  Chief,  said  in  that  letter,  "My 
Bros,  the  Osages,  there  is  a  distinguished  gentleman  sent  by  the  Con- 
federate States  who  is  here  to  make  treaties  with  us.  He  will  soon  be 
ready  to  treat,  and  I  want  you  to  come  here  in  order  that  we  may  all 
treat  together  with  him.  My  Brothers,  there  is  a  great  black  cloud  com- 
ing from  the  North,  about  to  cover  us  all,  and  I  want  you  to  come 
here  so  that  we  can  counsel  each  other  &  drive  away  the  black  cloud." 
This  is  all  that  he  said  &  signed  his  name.  All  the  Osages  went.  We 
were  all  there  together,  Pike,  John  Ross  and  I,  sitting  as  you  are.  Pike 
told  us  he  was  glad  that  we  had  come  to  make  peace  &  a  treaty.  All 
your  other  brothers  have  made  treaties  &  shook  hands,  &  if  you  want  to, 
you  can  do  so  too.  I  will  tell  you  what  John  Ross  said  at  the  time. 
John  Ross  told  us,  "My  Red  Bros,  you  have  come  here  as  I  asked  you 
&  I  am  glad  to  see  you  &  hope  you  will  do  what  the  Commissioner 
wants  you  to  do.  The  talk  the  Commissioner  has  made  is  a  good  talk 
&  I  want  you  to  listen  to  it  &  make  friends  with  the  Confederate  States. 
You  can  make  a  treaty  or  not,  but  I  advise  you,  as  your  older  brother, 
to  make  a  treaty  with  them.  It  is  for  your  interest  &  your  good." 
After  he  finished  talking,  John  Ross  told  us  we  could  consult  among 
ourselves  over  there  (pointing  to  our  camp  near  his  residence)  &  de- 
cide among  ourselves.  We  consulted  on  the  matter,  &  on  the  request 
of  John  Ross  we  signed  the  treaty.  He  asked  us  to  do  it.  He  was  the 
man  that  made  us  make  that  treaty,  and  that's  how  we  came  to  be  away 
from  our  country. 

The  above  statement  was  endorsed  by  Wah-tah-in-gah,  Chief  Coun- 
selor of  the  Black  Dog  &  Clermont  bands  of  the  Osage  Indians. 

The  above  is  a  correct  statement  as  interpreted. 

E.  S.  PARKER  Comr        GEO.  L.  COOK  Ass't  Sec?. 
ELIJAH  SELLS  Comr 

Papers    relating   to  the   Council    at  Fort    Smith,    September,   1865,  Indian 
Office  Files. 

466  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  pp.  353-354. 

467  These   Creeks,  of   course,    were   the    Upper   Creeks,   the    anti-McIntosh 
Creeks,    the    following    of    Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la.     Some   of  the    confidence   that 
Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  seems  to  have  had  in  John  Ross,  in  his  discretion  and  in 
his  integrity,  may  have  dated  from  the  days  when  John  Ross  had  refused,  as  he 
must  have  refused,  to  share  in  the  plan  for  a  betrayal  of  his  country',  at  the 
instance   of  William   Mclntosh.     The   following  document  will    explain   that 

circumstance : 

NEWTOWN  2ith  October  1823 

MY  FRIEND:  I  am  going  to  inform  you  a  few  lines  as  a  friend.  I 
want  you  to  give  me  your  opinion  about  the  treaty  wether  the  chiefs 
will  be  willing  or  not.  If  the  chiefs  feel  disposed  to  let  the  United 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  237 

made  inquiries  about  it,  only  to  be  assured469  again  and 
again  by  Ross  that  all  was  well  and  that  he  wished  the 
Indians  en  masse  to  join  the  Southern  States. 

The  council  at  Tahlequah,  viewed  in  the  light  of  its 
immediate  object,  was  unusually  successful.  Four 
treaties  were  negotiated,  one470  at  Tahlequah  itself, 
October  seventh,  with  the  Cherokees  and  three  at  Park 
Hill.  Of  these  three,  one471  was  with  four  bands  of  the 
Great  Osages,  Clermont's,  White  Hair's,  Black  Dog's, 
and  the  Big  Hill,  October  second;  another472  with  the 
Quapaws,  October  fourth;  and  the  third,473  on  the  same 
day,  with  the  Senecas474  (once  of  Sandusky)  and  the 
Shawnees  (once  of  Lewistown  and  now  of  the  mixed 

States  have  the  land  part  of  it,  I  want  you  to  let  me  know.  I  will 
make  the  United  States  commissioner  give  you  two  thousand  dollars,  A. 
McCoy  the  same  and  Charles  Hicks  $3000  for  present,  and  no  body  shall 
know  it,  and  if  you  think  the  land  wouldent  sold,  I  will  be  satisfied. 
If  the  land  should  be  sold,  I  will  get  you  the  amount  before  the  treaty 
sign,  and  if  you  got  any  friend  you  want  him  to  Receive  it,  they  shall 
reed  the  same,  nothing  moore  to  inform  you  at  present.  I  remain  your 
affectionate  Friend  WM  MclNTOSH 

John  Ross  -  an   answer  return 

NB.  the  whole  amount  is  $12000.  you  can  divide  among  your  friends, 
exclusive  $7000. 

This  letter  is  on  file  in  the  United  States  Indian  Office  and  bears  the  fol- 
lowing endorsement: 

recd  on  the  23rd  Oct.  1823. 

MR  JOHN  Ross  President  N.  Committee 

Letter  from  Wm  Mclntosh  to  Mr  John  Ross  read  &  exposed  in  open 
Council  in  the  presence  of  Wm  Mclntosh  Oct  24th  1823  J  Ross 

468  Letters  to   Dole,    October   31,    1861    [Commissioner  of   Indian   Affairs, 
Report,  1861,  p.  42]  and  November  2,  1861   [General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859- 
1865,  JS03]. 

469  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  pp.  353,  354. 

470  Official  Records,  fourth  ser.,  vol.  i,  669-687. 
m  —  Ibid.,  636-646. 

*™  —  Ibid.,  659-666. 

*™  —  lbid.,  647-658. 

474  The  Senecas  of  the  mixed  band  of  Senecas  and  Shawnees  were  not  or- 
iginally parties  to  the  treaty,  but  provision  was  duly  made  for  their  becom- 
ing so. 


238     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

band  of  Senecas  and  Shawnees).  Hereditary475  chiefs 
alone  signed  for  the  Great  Osages,  the  merit  chief,  Big 
Chief,  being,  apparently,  not  present.  The  notorious 
ex-United  States  agent,  J.  W.  Washbourne,*76  was  very 
much  in  evidence  as  would  most  likely  also  have  been 
the  equally  notorious  and  disreputable  Indian  trader, 

475  Ka-hi-ke-tung-ka   for  Clermont's  Band,   Pa-hiu-ska  for  White   Hair's, 
Shon-tas-sap-pe  for  Black  Dog's,  and  Chi-sho-hung-ka  for  the  Big  Hill. 

476  For   information   concerning  Washbourne   [Washburne   or   Washburn] 
and  charges  against  him,  see  Dean  to  Manypenny,  December  28,  1855,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1855  [Dean's  Letter  Book,  Indian  Office];  and  Elias  Rector  to  Secretary 
Thompson,   October    i,    1859    [Rector's   Letter  Book,   Indian  Office].     Rector's 
letter  was  as  follows: 

An  important  sense  of  my  duty  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 
for  the  Southern  Superintendency  compells  me  to  recommend,  most  earn- 
estly, the  immediate  removal  of  the  present  incumbent  of  the  Seminole 
Agency, 

The  performance  of  this  unpleasant  duty  is  forced  upon  me  by  the 
following  consideration,  - 

ist  The  neglect  of  duty  and  disregard  of  the  orders  and  Regulations 
of  the  Department  in  absenting  himself  repeatedly  and  for  protracted 
periods,  from  his  Agency  without  authority  for  so  doing;  to  the  preju- 
dice of  the  public  interests  entrusted  to  him,  - 

On  this  point  I  presume  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  enlarge,  or  to 
urge  upon  the  Department  my  views  of  the  paramount  necessity  of  In- 
dian Agents  residing  at  their  Agencies  and  being  at  all  times  present 
at  their  Stations  as  well  to  cultivate  the  respect  and  confidence,  and  a 
just  knowledge  of  the  character  and  wants  of  the  people  entrusted  to 
their  care,  as  to  be  in  position  to  execute  promptly  the  orders,  and  to 
promote  the  views  of  the  Department,  - 

2nd  I  consider  him  unworthy  of  the  trust  reposed  in  him  from  certain 
facts  connected  with  the  late  payment  of  money  to  the  Indians  under  his 
charge,  which  have  come  to  my  knowledge  - 

Of  the  $90.000  recently  paid  to  those  Indians,  appropriated  by  Con- 
gress expressly  to  pay  such  of  them  as  should  remove  under  the  late 
Treaty;  for  their  improvements  and  to  assist  in  defraying  their  removal 
expences  I  have  ascertained,  and  it  is  notorious,  that  thirteen  thousand 
Dollars  or  more  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr  Washbourne,  through  Col- 
lusion with  the  principal  Chiefs,  $5000  of  which  he  received  under  a 
private  Contract  with  Senator  Yulee  of  Florida  for  services  in  obtain- 
ing the  consent  of  the  Chiefs  to  the  payment  of  thirty  thousand  dollars 
of  this  money  to  Senator  Yulee  on  an  old  claim  presented  by  him  of  long 
standing  in  behalf  of  one  Gov  Humphreys  of  Florida.  The  balance  of 
the  $13000  received  by  Mr  Washbourne  was  probably  awarded  him  in 
consideration  of  his  permitting  the  Chiefs  to  appropriate  certain  por- 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  239 

John   Mathews,477  had  he  not  recently   received  his 
deserts  at  the  hands  of  Senator  Lane's  brigade. 

tions  of  the  money  they  paid  over  to  them  in  trust  for  the  legetimate 
claimants,  to  their  own  use  and  benefit, 

I  have  informed  you  in  a  late  letter  of  the  pains  I  took  to  make  the 
Chiefs  acquainted  with  the  true  object  of  the  appropriations.  Having 
been  instructed  to  pay  over  the  whole  amount  to  the  authorities  of  the 
Nation,  this  was  all  I  could  do  in  furtherance  of  the  intentions  of  Con- 
gress ;  my  efforts  to  accomplish  which  were  thus  frustrated  by  Mr  Wash- 
bourne  and  his  advances.  - 

3d  The  breach  of  good  faith  in  the  Chiefs  towards  the  Indians, 
prompted  by  Mr  Washbourne  in  the  distribution  of  this  $90.000  as  ex- 
plained in  my  late  letter,  has  incensed  the  Indians  to  such  degree  that 
bloodshed  has  been  threatened  and  is  seriously  to  be  apprehended,  - 

4th  The  influence  of  Mr  Washbourne  over  the  Chiefs  acquired 
through  his  Collusion  with  them  in  this  swindling  the  intended  legal  re- 
cipients of  this  money  is  such  that,  the  Chiefs  have  intimated  that  they 
will  not  send  a  delegation  to  Florida  unless  Mr  Washbourne  shall  ac- 
company them,  and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  in  case  he  is  not  per- 
mited  to  accompany  them,  he  is  prepared  to  throw  every  obstacle  in 
the  way  of  the  accomplishment  of  this,  so  much  desired  measure  of  the 
Government, 

The  conduct  of  the  Chiefs  and  their  Agent  in  the  distribution  of  the 
$90000  and  the  enclosed  letter  from  Mr  Jacoway  U  S  Marshal  of  this 
District,  whose  acquaintance  you  have  made,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  declarations  of  the  Chiefs,  that  they  will  not  go  without  him  (or 
that  they  desire  that  he  should  go  with  and  have  charge  of  them)  justi- 
fies the  apprehension  that  there  is  another  scheme  in  embryo  between 
them  to  perpetrate  another  swindle.  Should  circumstances  favour  its 
accomplishment;  and  if  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Department  to  charge 
me  with  conducting  the  negotiations  of  a  Delegation  to  Florida,  I  must 
decline  the  performance  of  this  duty  if  one  in  whom  I  have  so  little 
confidence  is  permited  to  accompany  the  Delegation  in  the  capacity  of 
Agent;  for  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  if  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of 
making  a  profitable  employment  of  his  influence  he  would  exert  himself 
to  defeat  any  negotiations  that  might  be  set  on  foot,  and  there  is  good 
reason  to  fear  that  he  might  be  successful,  - 

For  these  reasons  I  beg  leave  respectfully  to  urge  upon  the  Depart- 
ment the  immediate  removal  of  Mr  Washbourne  and  the  appointment  in 
his  stead  of  some  gentleman  who  will  perform  the  duties  of  the  office 
with  a  high  appreciation  of  the  trust  confided  to  him  and  with  a  view, 
rather  to  the  honest  discharge  of  this  trust,  than  to  his  own  profit, 

I  make  this  communication  direct  to  the  Sec't  of  Interior  instead  of 
sending  it  through  the  Indian  office  for  the  reason  that  I  learn  that  the 
Comr  Ind  Affrs  is  absent  on  official  acct. 
477  Agent  Elder  to    Coffin,   September   30,    1861    [Commissioner  of   Indian 


240     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

An  accurate  and  connected  account  of  the  occur- 
rences at  the  Tahlequah  council,  it  is  well  nigh  impos- 
sible to  obtain.  Some  intimidation478  seems  to  have 
been  used,  and  there  was  a  report  of  a  collision479  be- 
tween the  Ross  and  Ridge  factions  some  days  previous 
to  the  meeting.  Drew's  regiment,  which,  when  organ- 
ized, had  been  placed  as  a  guard480  on  the  northern  bor- 
der, escorted481  Commissioner  Pike  to  Park  Hill  and 
later  took  up  its  station  on  the  treaty  ground.  Some  of 
Stand  Watie's  Confederate  forces  were  also  in  the 

Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  37];  Coffin  to  Dole,  October  2,  1861    {ibid.,  p.  38]; 

Moore's  Rebellion  Record,  vol.  iii,  33. 

478  \ye   the   loyal    Cherokee  Delegation  acknowledge   the   execution  of 
the  treaty  of  Oct.  7,  1861.     But  we  solemnly  declare  that  the  execution 
of  the  Treaty  was  procured  by  the  coercion  of  the  rebel  army   [Land 
Files,  Indian  Talks,  Councils,  etc.,  Box  4,  1865-1866]. 
«9Hon,  J.   S.  Phelps  to  C.  B.  Smith,   dated  Rolla,  Mo.,  October   3,   1861 

[General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  ?44]. 

480  A  difference  of  opinion  seems  to  exist  as  to  the  original  object  of  the 
organization  of  Drew's  regiment.     When  Ross  wrote  his  despatches  to  McCul- 
loch  concerning  the  proceedings  at  Tahlequah,  he  sent  them  for  transmission 
to  the  C.S.A.  quartermaster  at  Fort  Smith,  Major  George  W.  Clark,  to  whom 
he  imparted  the  information  that  the  Cherokees  were  going  to  raise  a  regiment 
of  mounted  men  immediately  and  place  it  under  the  command  of  Colonel  John 
Drew,  "to  meet  any  emergency  that  may  arise."     "Having  espoused,"  said  he, 
"the  cause  of  the  Confederate  States,  we  hope  to  render  efficient  service  in  the 
protracted   war  which  now  threatens  the  country,   and  to  be  treated  with  a 
liberality  and  confidence  becoming  the  Confederate  States."  -  Moore's  Rebellion 
Record,  vol.  iii,  155,  Document  63^2- 

Those,  who  afterwards  wanted  to  put  the  Cherokee  position  in  the  best  pos- 
sible light,  declared  repeatedly  that  Drew's  regiment  had  no  sectional  bias  in 
the  work  mapped  out  for  it,  that  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  home  guard. 
Writing  to  Dole,  January  21,  1862,  the  Reverend  Evan  Jones  said, 

A  regiment  of  Cherokees  was  raised  for  home  protection,  composed  of 
one  company  for  each  of  eight  Districts,  and  either  two  or  three  com- 
panies for  the  District  of  Tahlequah.  But  these  were  altogether  sep- 
arate and  distinct  from  the  rebel  force.  .  .  The  great  majority  of 
officers  and  men,  in  this  case,  being  decidedly  loyal  Union  men  Four 
of  the  Captains  and  four  hundred  men,  gave  evidence  of  their  loyalty,  in 
the  part  they  acted,  at  the  battle  in  which  Opothleyoholo  was  attacked  by 
the  Texan  rangers  &  rebel  Creeks  &  Choctaws,  under  Cooper.  .  . 
-  General  Files,  Cherokee,  1859-1865,  Jss6. 

481  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  355. 


Alliance  'with  the  Confederacy  241 

neighborhood.482  In  1865,  at  the  Fort  Smith  Council, 
held  for  the  readjustment  of  political  relations  with  the 
United  States  government,  the  Indians  of  the  Neosho 
Agency  gave483  a  rather  picturesque  description  of  the 
way  they  had  been  prevailed  upon  to  sign  the  treaty 
with  the  Confederate  States.  The  real  object  of  the 
Tahlequah  meeting  was  evidently  not  revealed  to  them 
until  they  had  actually  reached  the  treaty  ground. 
Agent  Dorn  had  told  them  that  they  had  to  go  to  the 
meeting.  They  went  and  were  there  taken  in  hand  by 
Pike  who  said, 

If  you  don't  do  what  we  lay  before  you,  we  can't  say  you  shall 

live  happy. 

The  Indians 

feeling  badly,  just  looked  on,  and  the  white  man  went  to  work, 
got  up  a  paper  and  said  I  want  you  to  sign  that.  The  Indian 
did  not  want  to,  but  he  compelled  him.  You  know  yourself 
that,  under  such  circumstances,  he  would  do  anything  to  save  his 
life.  .  . 

Now  that  the  history  of  the  diplomatic  relations  be- 
tween the  Indian  tribes  and  the  Confederacy  has  been 
brought  thus  far,  nothing  seems  more  fitting  than  to  re- 
turn to  the  consideration  of  the  Federal  government 
and  its  representatives,  its  purposes,  and  its  plans,  be- 
ginning the  account  with  the  Indian  Office  and  Com- 
missioner Dole.  Dole's  early  attempt  to  prevail  upon 
the  War  Department  to  resume  its  occupation  of  Indian 
Territory  was  followed  up  by  the  convincing  letter  of 
the  thirtieth  of  May  in  which  he  likened  the  Indians  to 
the  Union  element  in  some  of  the  border  states  and 
ended  by  throwing  the  full  responsibility  for  any  dis- 
loyalty that  might  appear  among  them  upon  the  Fed- 

482  Cooley's  Report   to  President  Johnson,  February  25,  1866.     This   letter 
was  found  in  the  loose  files  of  the  Indian  Office  and  is  not  to  be  found  in  In- 
dian Office,  Report  Book,  no.  15,  where  it  would  properly  belong. 

483  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  321. 


242     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

eral  authorities;  inasmuch  as  they  had  neglected  and 
were  still  neglecting  to  give  the  support  and  protection 
that  any  ordinary  guardian  is  bound  in  honor  to  give 
to  his  wards.  Dole  said  in  writing  to  Secretary  Smith, 

.  .  .  Experience  has  shown  that  the  presence  of  even  a 
small  force  of  federal  troops  located  in  the  disaffected  States 
has  had  the  effect  to  preserve  the  peace,  encourage  the  friends  of 
the  Union,  and  induce  the  people  to  return  to  their  allegiance. 
That  this  same  result  would  be  produced  in  the  Indian  coun- 
try I  cannot  doubt,  as  they  can  have  no  inducement  to  unite 
with  the  enemies  of  the  United  States  unless  we  fail  as  a  nation 
to  give  them  that  protection  guaranteed  by  our  treaty  stipula- 
tions, and  which  is  necessary  to  prevent  designing  and  evil-dis- 
posed persons  from  having  free  intercourse  with  them,  to  work 
out  their  evil  purposes.  .  .484 

Nothing  came  of  Dole's  application  and  thus  was 
exemplified,  as  often  before  and  often  since,  a  very  seri- 
ous defect  in  the  American  administrative  system  by 
which  the  duty  of  doing  a  certain  thing  rests  upon  one 
department  and  the  means  for  doing  it  with  quite  an- 
other. It  is  surely  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  times  the  Indians  have  been  the  inno- 
cent victims  of  friction  between  the  War  and  Interior 
Departments. 

But  if  the  authorities  at  Washington  were  indifferent 
to  the  Indian's  welfare,  Senator  Lane  was  neither  in- 
different to  nor  ignorant  of  the  strategical  importance 
of  Indian  Territory.  With  him  the  defence  of  Kansas 
and  the  means  of  procuring  that  defence  were  every- 
thing. Indian  Territory  and  the  Indian  tribes  came 
within  the  scope  of  the  means.  And  so  it  happened 
that,  while  he  was  organizing  his  Kansas  brigade,  he 
commissioned485  a  man,  E.  H.  Carruth,  who  had  for- 

484  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  35;  Indian  Office,  Re- 
port  Book,  no.  12,  p.  176. 

485  Enclosed   pleaz   find   a   coppy   of   a   Commission   given   by   General 


Alliance  'with  the  Confederacy  243 

merly  posed  as  an  educator486  among  the  Seminoles,  to 
communicate  with  the  various  tribes  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  their  real  feelings  towards  the  United 
States  government  and  of  obtaining,  if  possible,  an  in- 
terview between  Lane  and  some  of  their  accredited  rep- 
resentatives. The  interview  was  to  take  place  "at  Fort 
Lincoln  on  the  Osage  or  some  point  convenient  there- 
to."487 

Now  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Creek  tribe  was  in 
just  the  right  mood  and  in  just  the  right  situation  to  re- 
ceive such  overtures  in  the  right  spirit.    That  portion 
consisted  of  those  who,  after  the  treaty  of  July  tenth 
had  been  negotiated  in  the  manner  already  described, 
had  rallied  around  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la;  and  who,  in  a 
Creek  convention  that  had  been  called  for  August  fifth 
had  declared  that  the  chiefs,  who  had  signed  a  treaty 
outside  the  National  Council,  had  violated  a  funda- 
mental law  of  the  tribe  and  had  thereby  forfeited  their 
administrative  rank.     The  criticism  applied  to  Motey 
Kennard  and  to  Echo  Harjo,  the  principal  and  the  sec- 
Lane  to  E.  H.  Carruth  together  with  coppies  of  Letters  sent  by  him  to  the 
various  Tribes  in  the  Indian  Territory.     I  had  an  interview  with  Mr. 
Carruth  yesterday.     I  find  him  a  very  Inteligent  man  and  thougherly 
posted  as  to  all  matters  relating  to  the  Southern  Indians  he  is  very  confi- 
dent that   most   if  not  all  the    Southern   Indians  written  to  will   Send 
deligations   to    Fort    Scott    as    requested    there    ware    three    Creek    In- 
dians came  up  to  se  General  Lane  who  came  to  lola  for  Caruthe  to  go 
with  them  to  General  Lane  which  he  did  and  they  ware  the  barers  of 
letters   of  which  the  enclosed   are  coppies.     I    am   going  to   Fort  Scott 
today  and  will  make  arrangements  with  Agent  Elder  to  give  the  notice 
imediately  on  their  arrival  or  Bring  them  to  Humboldt.     I  shall  try  to 
secure  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Caruthe  tho  he  is  now  a  voluntear  in  the 
Home  Guards  for  protection.     I  very  much  feer  the  service  required  of 
me  at  the  Sacks  &  Fox  and  Kaw  agencies  will  take  me  to  far  off  but  will 
try  to  attend  to  all  if  possible- General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency, 
1859-1862,  Ci348. 

486  Manypenny  to  Dean,  April  9,  1855   [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.   51, 
pp.  232-233]. 

487  Extract  from  commission,  dated  Fort  Scott,  August  30,  1861,   issued  to 
Carruth  by  authority  of  J.  H.  Lane,  Commanding  the  Kansas  Brigade  [ibid.']. 


244     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ond  chief  respectively.  Kennard,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
the  leader  of  the  Lower  Creeks  and  Harjo  of  the  Up- 
per. A  further  division  in  Creek  ranks  was  now  in- 
evitable and  it  came  forthwith,  the  Non-treaty  Party, 
made  up  mostly  of  Upper  Creeks,  proceeding  to  recog- 
nize488 Ok-ta-ha-hassee  Harjo  (better  known  as 
"Sands")  as  the  acting  principal  chief  of  the  tribe.  It 
also  betook  itself  westward  so  as  to  be  as  much  as  pos- 
sible out  of  the  reach  of  the  secessionists.  When  once 
in  a  position  of  at  least  temporary  security,  it  de- 
spatched Mik-ko  Hut-kee  (White  Chief),  Bob  Deer, 
Jo  Ellis,  and  perhaps  others  to  Washington  to  confer 
with  the  "Great  Father."489 

*88  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  328. 
489  The  loyal  Creeks  testified,  in  1865,  that  they  sent  their  "chief"  and 
others  to  Washington  and  leave  the  reader  to  infer  that  the  chief  meant  was 
"Sands;"  but  the  accredited  delegates  were  most  certainly  Mik-ko  Hut-kee, 
Bob  Deer,  and  Jo  Ellis.  These  three  men  signed  their  names,  or  rather  at- 
tached their  mark,  to  an  address  to  the  president  of  which  the  following  is  a 
certified  copy: 

SHAWNEE  AGENCY,  LEXINGTON,  September  18,  1861. 
SIR,  we  the  Chiefs,  Head  Men,  and  Warriors,  of  the  Creek  Nation  of 
Indians,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  through  our  delegates,  the  undersigned 
desire  to  state  to  your  excellency  the  condition  of  our  people.  Owing  to 
the  want  of  correct  information  as  to  condition  of  the  Country  and  Gov- 
ernment our  people  are  in  great  distress.  Men  have  come  among  us, 
who  claim  to  represent  a  New  Government,  who  tell  us  that  the  Govern- 
ment represented  by  Our  Great  Father  at  Washington,  has  turned 
against  us  and  intends  to  drive  us  from  our  homes  and  take  away  our 
property,  they  tell  us  that  we  have  nothing  to  hope  from  our  old  Father 
and  that  all  the  Friends  of  the  Indian  have  joined  the  New  Govern- 
ment. And  that  the  New  Government  is  ready  to  make  treaties  with 
the  Indians  and  do  all  and  more  for  them  than  they  can  claim  under 
their  old  treaties,  they  ask  us  to  join  their  armies  and  help  sustain  the 
Government  that  is  willing  to  do  so  much  for  us.  But  we  doubted  their 
statements  and  promises  and  went  to  talk  with  the  Agent  and  Super- 
intendent which  Our  father  has  always  kept  among  us  but  they  were 
both  gone  and  then  some  of  our  people  began  to  think  that  Our  Great 
Father  had  forsaken  us  and  a  very  few  joined  the  Army  of  the  New 
Government  and  our  people  were  in  great  trouble  and  we  called  a 
Grand  Council  of  the  Chiefs  of  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Shaw- 
nees,  Senecas,  Quapaws,  Kickapoos,  Delawares,  Weas,  Peankeshaws, 


Alliance  <with  the  Confederacy  245 

The  Creek  delegates,  Mik-ko  Hut-kee  and  his  com- 
panions, went,  on  their  way  to  Washington,  northward 
through  Kansas,  saw  Superintendent  Coffin490  and, 
later,  Lane's  agent,  E.  H.  Carruth.  This  was  about 
the  second  week  of  September  and  Carruth  was  at 
Barnesville,  Lane's  headquarters.  Carruth  received 
the  Creeks  kindly,  read  sympathetically  the  letter491 

Witchetaws  Tribes  and  bands  of  Comanches,  Seminoles,  and  Cadoes. 
And  after  a  long  discussion  of  the  source  of  their  troubles,  decided  to 
remain  loyal  to  our  Government  and  if  possible  neutral.  The  Chiefs 
went  among  their  people  (and  as  a  general  thing)  counteracted  the 
influence  of  the  emissaries  of  the  New  Government.  But  these  emissaries 
are  still  among  us  giving  us  great  trouble,  while  our  Government  has 
no  one  who  can  officially  represent  itself.  And  we  most  earnestly  ask 
that  some  person  shall  be  sent  here  who  shall  meet  the  Chiefs  of  the 
above  mentioned  tribes  in  Council  at  some  suitable  place,  and  then  make 
known  to  them  the  condition,  policy  and  wishes  of  the  Government  so 
far  as  the  interests  of  the  Indians  are  concerned.  If  your  Excellency 
should  deem  it  best  to  comply  with  our  request,  we  would  suggest  that 
Humboldt  Allen  County  Kansas  be  the  place  for  holding  the  Council. 
A  notice  sent  to  the  Agent  of  the  Shawnees,  will  immediately  be  for- 
warded by  a  messinger  to  the  Chiefs.  Very  Respectfully,  your  Obedient 
Servants  WHITE  CHIEF  X  his  mark 

BOBB  DEER  X  his  mark 
JOSEPH  ELLIS  X  his  mark  Interpreter 

P.S.  The  Choctaws  were  not  present  at  the  Council  and  we  have 
reason  to  feer  that  they  have  gone  with  the  Southern  Confederacy.  It 
will  take  near  forty  days  to  notify  the  Chiefs  and  get  them  together 
after  the  notice  gets  at  this  place.  WHITE  CHIEF  X  his  mark 

490  They  also  saw  Agent  Abbot  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report, 
1865,  p.  330]  and  received  new  assurances  from  him. 

491  Perchance  the  same  letter,  either  the  original  or  a  copy  of  which,  Super- 
intendent Branch  transmitted  to  Dole  along  with  an  explanatory  letter  from 
Agent  Abbott.     The  "talk"  of  the  Creek  chiefs  was  accompanied  by  a  sort  of 
Seminole  and  Chickasaw  endorsement.     Dole  replied  to  the  Creek  and  Seminole 
delegate  appeals,  November  16,  1861   [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  pp. 
78-79].     This  is  what  the  Creek  chiefs  said: 

CREEK  NAT.  Aug  15,  1861. 

Now  I  write  to  the  President  our  Great  Father  who  removed  us  to 
our  present  homes,  &  made  a  treaty,  and  you  said  that  in  our  new  homes 
we  should  be  defended  from  all  interference  from  any  people  and  that 
no  white  people  in  the  whole  world  should  ever  molest  us  unless  they 
come  from  the  sky  but  the  land  should  be  ours  as  long  as  grass  grew  or 
waters  run,  and  should  we  be  injured  by  anybody  you  would  come  with 


246     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

that  they  brought  from  their  distressed  chiefs,  Sands 
and  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la,  assured  the  equally  distressed 
delegates  of  the  continued  fatherly  interest  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  government,  and  sent  them  on  their  way, 
greatly  comforted.  It  was  while  these  Creek  delegates 
were  lingering  at  Barnesville  that  Carruth  made  a  spe- 
cial effort  to  induce  the  southern  Indians  generally  to 
send  representatives  for  an  interview  with  Lane.  He 
wrote  personally  to  Ross,492  to  the  two  Creek  chiefs,493 

your  soldiers  &  punish  them,  but  now  the  wolf  has  come,  men  who  are 
strangers  tread  our  soil,  our  children  are  frightened  &  the  mothers  can- 
not sleep  for  fear.  This  is  our  situation  now.  When  we  made  our 
Treaty  at  Washington  you  assured  us  that  our  children  should  laugh 
around  our  houses  without  fear,  &  we  believed  you.  Then  our  Great 
Father  was  strong.  And  now  we  raise  our  hands  to  him  we  want  his 
help  to  keep  off  the  intruder  &  make  our  homes  again  happy  as  they 
used  to  be.  .  . 

I  was  at  Washington  when  you  treated  with  us,  and  now  White 
People  are  trying  take  our  people  away  to  fight  against  us  and  you. 
I  am  alive.  I  well  remember  the  treaty.  My  ears  are  open  &  my  mem- 
ory is  good.  This  is  the  letter  of  Your  Children  by 

OPOTHLEHOYOLA 
OUKTAHNASERHARJO 

The  Seminoles  also  send  the  same  word  &  the  full  Indians  of  the 
Chickasaws  too  send  to  the  P  - 

The  reply  to  this  letter  was  made  by  Dole,  November  16,   1861.     See  In- 
dian Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  pp.  79-80. 

Pascofar  the  chief  of  Seminoles  was  present  he  was  not  able  to  come 
with  us  now  but  sent  word.  And  if  our  Great  Father  want  us  we  will 
come  to  see  him.  MICEO  HULKA  Jo  ELLIS 

ROB  DEER 
General  Files,  Creek,  1860-1869,  tySj. 

492  There  is   a  delegation  of  the  Creeks  now  at  Gen'l  Lanes   Head 
Quarters. 

We  wish  to  see  delegations  from  the  tribes  loyal  to  the  U.S.  Govern- 
ment. You  will  send  us  a  delegation  who  will  report  to  the  Head 
Quarters  of  the  Kansas  Brigade  where  commissioners  of  the  Govern- 
ment will  meet  and  confer  with  them. 

You  are  probably  aware  of  the  falsehoods  resorted  to  by  the  en- 
emies of  the  U.S.  to  induce  the  Indians  to  withdraw  their  allegiance 
from  the  Government.  Could  you  come  in  person  it  would  be  grattify- 
ing  to  the  Commissioners.  -  Letter  of  September  n,  1861  [General  Files, 
Southern  Superintendence*,  1859-1862,  Ci348]. 

493  Your  letter  by  Micco  Hutka  is  received.     You  will  send  a  delega- 


Alliance  'with  the  Confederacy  247 

and  to  the  Wichita  chief,  Tusaquach,494  and,  in  addi- 
tion, wrote  to  the  Seminole  chiefs  and  headmen495  and 
to  the  "loyal"  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws.496 

Presumably,  Superintendent  Coffin  did  not  alto- 
gether approve  of  Senator  Lane's  taking  it  upon  him- 
self to  confer  with  the  Indians  who,  after  all,  were  offi- 
cially Coffin's  charges;  for,  in  October,  we  find  him, 
likewise,  planning  for  an  intertribal  conference  to  be 
held  at  Humboldt.497  It  is  rather  interesting  to  look 
back  upon  all  this  and  to  realize,  as  perforce  we  must, 
that  every  plan  for  conferring  with  the  southern  tribes 

tion  of  your  best  men  to  meet  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States 
Government  in  Kansas. 

I  am  authorized  to  inform  you  that  the  President  will  not  forget 
you.  Our  armies  will  soon  go  south  and  those  of  your  people  who  are 
true  and  loyal  to  the  Government  will  be  treated  as  friends -Your 
rights  &  property  will  be  respected.  The  Commissioners  from  the  Con- 
federate States  have  deceived  you  they  have  two  tongues. 

They  wanted  to  get  the  Indians  to   fight  and  they  will  rob   and 
plunder  you  if  they  can  get  you  into  trouble.     But  the  President  is  stil 
alive     his  soldiers  will  soon  drive  these  men  who  have  treacherously 
violated  your  homes  from  the  land  they  have  entered.     When  your  Del- 
egates Return  to  you  they  will  be  able  to  inform  you  when  and  where 
your  monies  will  be  paid  those  who  stole  your  orphan  funds  will  be  pun- 
ished and  you  will  learn  that  the  people  who  are  tru  to  the  Govern- 
ment which  has  so  long  protected  you  are  your  Friends.  -  Letter  to  Opoth- 
le-ho-yo-ho,  Ho-so-tau-hah-sas  Hayo,  dated   Barnesville,  September   u, 
1861.- General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ci348. 
The  author's  opinion  is  that  the  mistakes  in  spelling  were  made  by  the  il- 
literate Coffin,  who  probably  made  a  copy  of  Carruth's  letters  for  transmission 
to  the  Indian  Office.     He  may  also  have  made  a  slight  alteration  in  the  date 
of  the  letter  to  the  Creeks;  for  the  original  of  the  letter,  bearing  the  date  of 
September  10,  1861,  was  found   in  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's  camp  after  the  Battle 
of  Chustenahlah,  December  26,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  viii,  25]. 

494  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  26. 

495  In   his    letter  to   the   Seminole  chiefs    and   headmen,    Carruth   reminds 
them  that  he  was  with  them  when  letters  came  from  Pike  and  that  Pike  "is 
the  man  who  has  tried  so  hard  to  get  your  lands  sectionalized"  and  asks,  "who 
brought  up    a  bill  in  Congress  to  bring  your  tribes  under  Territorial  laws, 
Johnson  of  Arkansas.     .     ." 

*™  —  Ibid.,  26. 

497  Coffin  to  Dole,  October  2,  1861  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Re- 
port, 1861,  pp.  38-39]. 


248     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

in  the  interests  of  the  United  States  government,  at  this 
critical  time,  contemplated  a  meeting  at  some  place  out- 
side of  Indian  Territory.  Here  were  agents  of  the  In- 
dian's "Great  Father"  offering  protection  to  the  red 
men  and  yet  giving  incontestable  proof  in  the  very  de- 
tails of  the  offer  that  they  did  not  themselves  dare  to 
venture498  beyond  the  Kansas  boundary.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  all  such  plans  for  a  general  conference  came  to 
nothing,  although,  as  late  as  November,  Lane  had  still 
the  idea  of  one  in  mind.  He  was,  at  the  time,  hoping 
to  meet  the  Indians  at  Leroy499  in  Coffey  County,  Kan- 
sas, on  the  twenty-fourth.  Lane  also  continued  to  ad- 
vocate the  use  of  the  friendly  Indians  as  soldiers.  A 
little  earlier,  Agent  Johnson  had  endorsed500  Lane's 
plan  in  a  letter  to  Commissioner  Dole;  but  the  coming 
of  General  Hunter  upon  the  scene  considerably  affected 
the  sphere  of  influence. 

Dissatisfaction  with  Fremont  on  account  of  his  ex- 
travagance, his  haphazard  way  of  issuing  commissions, 

498  Evan  Jones  wrote,  October  31,  1861   [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Report,  1861,  pp.  41-43]   that  he  had  found  it  impossible  to  get  anyone  who 
would  undertake  to  carry  a  message  to  John  Ross.    The  risk  was  too  great. 

499  Dole  to  Hunter,  November  16,  1861   [ibid.,  p.  44]. 

5°o  On  consultation   with   Gen'l  Jas.   H.   Lane   he   thinks    an    auxiliary 
Regiment  of  Indians  are  necessary  to  the  service  and  could  be  used  to 
great  advantage  in  this  department.     If  it  meets  with  your  approbation 
I  would  like  and  ask  the  privilege  of  Raising  such  Regt  which  I  think 
I  could  do  in  thirty  days.     I  have  made  my  estimate  of  the  number  of 
men  which  I  think  would  be  furnished  by  each  tribe  as  follows 
lowas  &  Kickapoos  ......  225 

Delawares   ........  125 

Potawatomies          .......  250 

Shawnees,  Miamies,   &  Weas       .....  100 

Sacks  &  Foxes        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  250 

Senecas  &  Wyandotts        ......  125 


1075 

This  will  be  laid  before  you  by  Gen1  Lane  in  person     I  hope  it  will 
meet  with  your  approval  and  that  you  will  grant  the  permission  to  raise 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  249 

his  tardiness,  and,  above  all,  his  general  military  in- 
competence had  crystallized  in  September;  and,  by 
orders501  of  General  Scott  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  Octo- 
ber, Hunter  was  directed  to  relieve  him.  Hunter 
reached  his  post  in  early  November  and  almost  immedi- 
ately thereafter,  either  upon  his  own  initiative  or  after 
consultation  with  someone  like  Coffin  (it  could  hardly 
have  been  with  Lane;  for  Lane  had  gone502  to  Wash- 
ington, or  with  Branch;  for  Branch  was  strongly  op- 

the  Regt  and  if  necessary  I  have  no  doubt  but  a  Brigade  of  Indians 
could  be  organized  by  embracing  the  Osages  and  Loyal  Creeks  and 
Cherokees.  -  Letter  of  October  10,  1861  [General  Files,  Delaware,  1855- 
1861]. 

501  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  Hi,  553. 

502  i  arn  not  certain  of  the  exact  date  of  Lane's  departure  for  Washington. 
Spring  says  [Kansas,  279]  that  he  went  there  in  November.     When  an  Indian 
delegation  reached  Fort  Scott,  seeking  him,  some  time  about  the  middle  of  the 
month,  he  had  already  handed  over  his  command  to  Colonel  James  Montgom- 
ery and  "had  gone  to  Washington"  [Cutler  to  Coffin,  September  30,  1862,  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  138].    Yet  Dole's  letter  to  Gen- 
eral Hunter  would  convey  the  impression  that  Lane  was  still  in  Kansas  the 
middle  of  the  month  and  expected  to  be  there  on  the  twenty-fourth.     I  am  also 
in  doubt  as  to  when  Hunter  reached  his  post.     He  communicated  with  Agent 
Cutler  from  St.  Louis,  November  20,  1861   [ibid.,  1861,  p.  44].     Hunter  and 
Lane  may  very  well  have  met  even  outside  of  Kansas  and  have  exchanged 
views  and  opinions  that  would  have  given  a  basis  for  the  representations  that 
Lane  must  have  made  to  Lincoln  and  Cameron  regarding  Hunter's  approval 
of  the  "Jayhawking  Brigade."     McClellan  seems  to  have  advised  the  forward 
movement  in  the  direction  of  the  Indian  Territory;  for  he  says,  when  writing 
to  Hunter,  December  n,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  428]: 

Immediately  after  you  were  assigned  to  your  present  department  I  re- 
quested the  Adjutant-General  to  inform  you  that  it  was  deemed  ex- 
pedient to  organize  an  expedition  under  your  command  to  secure  the 
Indian  territory  west  of  Arkansas,  as  well  as  to  make  a  descent  upon 
Northern  Texas,  in  connection  with  one  to  strike  at  Western  Texas  from 
the  Gulf.  The  general  was  to  invite  your  prompt  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  to  ask  you  to  indicate  the  necessary  force  and  means  for  the 
undertaking. 

It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  Lane  had  always  advocated  a  more  southern  concen- 
tration of  forces.  He  more  than  any  other  northern  man  seems  to  have  ap- 
preciated fully  the  importance  of  Indian  Territory.  He  continually  recom- 
mended using  Fort  Scott  as  a  base  for  such  military  operations  as  had  the 
protection  of  Kansas  as  their  main  object. 


250     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

posed  to  the  project  intended),  he  telegraphed503  to  the 
War  Department  "for  permission  to  muster  a  Brigade 
of  Kansas  Indians  into  the  service  of  the  United  States, 
to  assist  the  friendly  Creek  Indians  in  maintaining  their 
loyalty."  Evidently,  the  request  was  not  granted,50*  but 
duties  akin  to  it  were,  by  arrangement  of  President  Lin- 
coln, conferred  upon  Hunter  which  involved  his  assum- 
ing the  responsibility  of  holding,  if  such  a  plan  were 
feasible,  an  intertribal  council  so  as  to  renew  the  con- 
fidence of  the  southern  Indians  in  the  United  States 
government.  A  letter505  from  Dole,  outlining  the  plan, 
reveals  an  astonishing  ignorance  of  just  how  far  those 
selfsame  Indians  had  gone  in  their  defection,  because 
of  the  loss  of  the  confidence. 

In  the  giving  of  these  new  duties  to  General  Hunter, 
there  was  not  the  slightest  intention  of  ignoring  Senator 
Lane.  In  fact,  Dole  expressly  mentioned  that  Lane  had 
called  for  just  such  an  Indian  conference506  and  sug- 
gested that,  if  Hunter's  military  duties  prevented  his 

503  Hunter   to  Thomas,    dated    Leavenworth,   January   15,   1862    [General 
Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862}. 

504  In  January,  1862,  Hunter  deplored  the  fact  that  his  request  had  not  been 
acceded  to  and  said, 

Had  this  permission  been  promptly  granted,  I  have  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  present  disastrous  state  of  affairs,  in  the  Indian  country 
west  of  Arkansas,  could  have  been  avoided.  I  now  again  respectfully 
repeat  my  request  -  Ibid. 

595  Dole  to  Hunter,  November  16,  1861  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67, 
pp.  80-82;  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  pp.  43-44]. 

506  Lane's  proposed  conference  called  for  the  assembling  of  representatives 
of  Kansas  tribes  as  well  as  of  Indian  Territory  tribes.  Judging  from  Hunter's 
letter  to  Agent  Cutler  of  November  20,  1861  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Report,  1861,  pp.  44-45],  I  infer  that  Hunter's  conference  was  to  be  confined 
to  the  southern  Indians.  The  purpose  of  Lane's  must  have  been  represented 
to  the  Kansas  Indians  as  Creek  needs  [Shawnee  "talk"  to  the  Creeks,  Novem- 
ber 15,  1861,  ibid.,  p.  45].  Hunter  intended  to  hold  his  conference  at  his  head- 
quarters, Fort  Leavenworth,  which  was  making  the  southern  Indians  come  a 
pretty  long  way  [Hunter  to  Cutler,  November  20,  1861,  ibid.,  p.  44;  Dole  to 
Cutler,  December  3,  1861,  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  p.  107]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  251 

meeting  the  Indians  in  person,  Lane  might  take  his 
place,  "provided  he  can  be  spared  from  his  post"  The 
whole  affair  was  incident  to  the  reorganization  that  had 
recently,  under  general  orders507  of  the  ninth  of  No- 
vember, taken  place  in  the  Western  Department,  from 
which  had  resulted  a  Department  of  Kansas,  separate 
and  distinct  from  the  Department  of  Missouri.  The 
Department  of  Kansas  included  "the  State  of  Kansas, 
the  Indian  Territory  west  of  Arkansas,  and  the  Terri- 
tories of  Nebraska,  Colorado,  and  Dakota"  and  was  to 
be  under  the  command  of  Major-general  David  Hunt- 
er508 with  headquarters  at  Fort  Leavenworth.  The 
idea  governing  this  division  of  the  old  western  depart- 
ment was,  ostensibly,  as  Nicolay  and  Hay  express509  it, 
that  Kansas  might  be  protected,  Indian  Territory  re- 
possessed, and  Texas  reached.  As  we  shall  presently 
see,  a  similar  reorganization  took  place,  about  the  same 
time,  in  the  Confederate  western  service  and  for  very 
much  the  same  reason,  the  condition  of  the  Indian  coun- 
try being  a  very  large  proportion  of  that  reason.  It  is 
barely  possible  that,  as  far  as  the  United  States  was  con- 
cerned, Senator  Lane's  recommendation510  of  the  ninth 
of  October  was  almost  wholly  accountable  for  the 
change. 

It  was,  undoubtedly,  high  time  that  something  vigor- 
ous was  being  done  to  stay  Confederate  progress  in  In- 
dian Territory.  Indeed,  events  were  happening  there 

507  Official  Records,  first  set.,  vol.  iii,  567. 

508  Major-general  H.  W.  Halleck  was  to  command  the  sister  department  of 
Missouri. 

509  Abraham  Lincoln,  vol.  v,  81-82. 

510 1  earnestly  request  and  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  new 
military  department,  to  be  composed  of  Kansas,  the  Indian  country,  and 
so  much  of  Arkansas  and  the  Territories  as  may  be  thought  advisable 
to  include  therein.  -  LANE  to  Lincoln,  dated  Leavenworth  City,  Kansas, 
October  9,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  529]. 


252     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

at  this  very  moment  that  made  all  plans  for  an  inter- 
tribal conference  exceedingly  out  of  date.  The  Con- 
federate government  had  now  a  large  Indian  force511  in 
the  field  and  expectations  of  an  increase,  provided  the 

511  By  the  end  of  July,  the  First  Regiment  of  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw 
Mounted  Rifles  had  been  completely  organized  {Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
iii,  620,  624]  and  eight  companies  of  a  prospective  Creek  regiment  [ibid.,  624]. 
By  October  twenty-second,  when  McCulloch  ordered  him  [ibid.,  721]  to  take 
up  a  position  in  the  Cherokee  Neutral  Lands,  Stand  Watie's  battalion  had  ap- 
parently reached  the  proportions  of  a  regiment,  the  First  Cherokee  Mounted 
Rifles.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of  November,  Pike  who  was  then  in  Richmond 
informed  Benjamin, 

We  have  now  in  the  service  four  regiments,  numbering  in  all  some 
3,500  men,  besides  the  Seminole  troops  and  other  detached  companies,  in- 
creasing the  number  to  over  4,000.  An  additional  regiment  has  been  of- 
fered by  the  Choctaws  and  another  can  be  raised  among  the  Creeks.  If 
I  have  the  authority  I  can  enlist  even  the  malcontents  among  that  people. 
I  can  place  in  the  field  (arms  being  supplied)  7,500  Indian  troops,  not 
counting  the  Comanches  and  Osages,  whom  I  would  only  employ  in  case 
of  an  invasion  of  the  Indian  country.  .  .  -  Official  Records,  first  sen, 
vol.  viii,  697. 

A  supposed  report  of  Agent  Garrett,  sent  to  the  United  States  Indian  Office 
under  the  following  endorsement,  is  not  without  interest  as  bearing  upon  the 
strength  of  the  Confederacy  within  the  Indian  country: 

The  copy  of  a  letter  herewith,  is  without  signature,  but  is  said  to  be 
in  the  handwriting  of  the  late  Col.  Garret,  who  at  that  date,  was  U.S. 
Indian  Agent  of  the  Creeks.  It  is  not  of  much  importance,  but  yet,  as 
historical  and  statistical,  is  not  without  some  interest.  I  obtained  it  a 
few  weeks  ago,  found  among  other  papers  at  the  Agency,  and  I  presume 

is  a  retained  copy  of  the  original. 

CREEK  AGENCY  C.N.  Dec.  i6th  1861. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
the  2d  ultimo,  requiring  certain  information  from  me  in  regard  to  the 
number  of  Creek  Indians;  and  their  relations  or  feelings  towards  the 
Confederate  States.  Owing  to  the  great  irregularity  of  the  mails,  I  did 
not  receive  your  communication  as  soon  as  I  ought.  The  difficulty  at 
the  time  I  received  your  letter  in  regard  to  answering  it  properly,  caused 
me  to  delay  a  few  days,  so  that  I  might  answer  it  definitely.  Incidental 
to  the  confusion  here,  I  could  not  state  to  you  who  were  reliable,  and 
who  were  not,  for  I  did  not  know  myself,  and  believing  that  a  battle 
would  be  fought  in  a  few  days  where  every  one  would  have  to  show 
his  hand,  I  thought  I  could  give  you  more  reliable  information:  and 
from  the  valor  and  fidelity  of  the  Creeks  engaged  then  I  can  give  you 
reliable  information. 

The  Creeks  number  in  all  14630,  a  portion  of  whom  reside  in  Ala- 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  253 

necessary  arms512  were  obtainable.    On  the  twenty-sec- 
ond513 of  November,  by  special  orders514  from  Rich- 

bama,  Texas  and  Missouri,  leaving  about  13000  within  the  limits  of  the 
Creek  Nation :  -  From  the  best  information  I  can  get,  there  are  among 
the  lower  Creeks  1650  warriors,  375  of  them  are  unfriendly  -  Among  the 
Upper  Creeks  there  are  1600  warriors  -  only  400  of  them  are  friendly  - 
to  sum  up  the  whole  matter  there  are  1675  Creek  warriors  friendly  to 
the  Confederate  States  and  1575  unfriendly  -  Of  those  friendly  there  are 
in  the  service  of  the  Confederate  States  1375 -One  Regiment  is  com- 
manded by  Col.  Chilly  Mclntosh,  numbering  400  -  and  an  independent 
company  commanded  by  Capt.  J.  M.  C.  Smith  numbering  75  men,  all  in 
the  service,  and  armed  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  and  I  think  from  re- 
cent indications  are  willing  to  do  service  wherever  ordered,  and  circum- 
stances justify  it. 

The  Regiment,  Battalion  and  Company  were  all  mustered  into  service 
for  twelve  months.  This  comprises  nearly  all  the  friendly  warriors 
in  the  Nation.  I  cannot  answer  you  in  regard  to  the  number  that  are 
willing  to  serve  during  the  war.  My  opinion  is,  though,  that  the  num- 
ber now  in  the  service,  and  perhaps  more,  are  willing  to  remain  in  the 
service  as  long  as  they  may  be  wanted.  The  Hostiles  are  headed  by 
Ho  path  ye  ho  lo  who  has  engaged  in  his  cause  portions  of  several 
tribes  viz  a  portion  of  the  Seminoles,  Kickapoos,  Shawnees,  Delawares, 
Wichitas,  Comanches,  and  Cherokees  -  400  of  whom  deserted  a  few  days 
before  the  recent  battle  from  Col.  John  Drews  Regiment  Cherokee  Vol- 
unteers and  joined  Hopathyeholo  who  is  in  communication  with  the  fed- 
eral forces  in  Kansas,  and  has  received  goods  and  ammunition  from 
them:  His  force  is  estimated  from  2500  to  3000-!  would  give  you  a 
more  detailed  account  of  the  battle,  but  I  do  not  think  it  proper  in  this 
communication  and  I  presume  the  commanding  officer  Col.  Cooper  has 
made  his  report  of  the  Battle  to  the  Secretary  of  War -I  may  be  mis- 
taken to  some  extent,  in  regard  to  the  friendly  and  hostile.  Creeks,  but 
I  think  I  am  not,  and  it  is  correct  from  the  best  information  I  can  get, 
and  my  own  knowledge  of  the  facts.  It  will  afford  me  much  pleasure, 
to  communicate  to  you  at  any  time  anything  of  importance  to  the  Con- 
federate States.  Very  Respectfully  Your  Obt  Servt. 
Hon.  David  Hubbard,  Com.  Indian  Affairs 

Richmond  Va. 

512  Therein  lay  the  whole  difficulty.     It  was  simply  impossible  for  the  Con- 
federate government  to  honor  all  requisitions  for  arms. 

513  The  matter  must  have  been  even  earlier  under  advisement;  for,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  of  October,  J.  P.  Benjamin,  Acting  Secretary  of  War,  sent  this 
notice  to  "General  Albert  Pike,  Little  Rock,  Ark.:" 

I  cannot  assign  to  your  command  any  Arkansas  troops  at  this  moment. 
Governor  Rector  is  applying  for  return  of  the  regiments  in  Tennes- 
see. -  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  iii,  727. 

514  —  Ibid.,  vol.  viii,  690. 


254     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

mond,  Indian  Territory  had  been  erected  into  a  sep- 
arate military  department  and  Albert  Pike,  now  a  brig- 
adier-general, assigned  to  the  command  of  it.  For  the 
present,  however,  things  seem  to  have  remained  much 
as  they  were  with  McCulloch  nominally  in  command 
and  Cooper  in  actual  charge.  Moreover,  long  before 
Pike  reappeared  upon  the  scene,  matters  had  come  to 
an  issue  between  the  secessionist  and  unionist  Creeks. 

Determined  not  to  allow  themselves  to  be  over-per- 
suaded or  intimidated  by  the  secessionist  element  in 
their  nation,  the  unionist  Creeks,  under  Opoeth-le-yo- 
ho-la,  had  withdrawn  from  active  intercourse  with  the 
rival  faction  and,  resisting  all  attempts  of  Cooper  and 
others  to  inveigle  them  into  an  interview  that  might 
result  in  compromise,  they  had  encamped  at  or  near  the 
junction  of  the  Deep  and  North  Forks  of  the  Canadian 
River.  Cooper  resolved  to  attack  them  there  and,  for 
the  purpose,  gathered515  together  an  effective  fighting 
force  of  about  fourteen  hundred  men,  all  Indians  ex- 
cept for  a  detachment  of  Texas  cavalry.  On  the  fifth  of 
November,  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  broke  camp  and  took  up 
the  line  of  march  for  Kansas,  hoping  that,  in  Kansas, 
he  and  his  followers  would  receive  either  succor  or 
refuge.  It  has  been  estimated  that  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la's 
force,  at  this  time,  was  less  than  two  thousand  men  and 
that  it  comprised,  besides  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  some 
two  or  three  hundred  negroes.  His  traveling  cortege 
was,  however,  very  much  larger;  for  it  included  women 
and  children,  the  sick  and  the  aged.  Approximately 
half  of  the  Creeks  were  on  the  move  for  pastures  new. 
For  many  of  them  it  was  a  second  exodus. 

Colonel  D.  H.  Cooper  reached  the  deserted  camp  of 
Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  on  the  fifteenth  of  November  and, 

515  Daily  State  Journal  (Little  Rock),  Nov.  8,  1861. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  255 

finding  his  enemy  gone  and  locating  his  trail,  moved 
himself  in  a  slightly  northeasterly  direction  towards  the 
Red  Fork  of  the  Arkansas.  He  came  up  with  the 
unionist  Creeks  at  Round  Mountain  on  the  night  of  the 
nineteenth  and  an  indecisive  engagement516  followed, 
both  sides  claiming  the  victory.  Under  cover  of  dark- 
ness, Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  managed  to  slip  away  and 
crossed  into  the  Cherokee  country  where  there  were 
plenty  of  disaffected  full-bloods  to  give  him  sympathy. 
It  is  more  than  likely  that  they  had  invited  him  there 
and  had  prepared  for  his  coming.  Cooper  did  not  at- 
tempt to  pursue  the  Creek  refugees,  having  been  called 
back  to  the  Arkansas  line,  there  to  wait  in  readiness  to 
reenforce  McCulloch  should  the  Federals  make  a  for- 
ward march  southward  from  Springfield,  as  then  seemed 
probable.  But  that  danger  soon  passed,  passed  even  be- 
fore Cooper  had  had  time  to  take  the  post  indicated  or 
to  leave  his  own  camp  at  Concharta,  after  a  brief  re- 
cuperation. He  was  now  free  to  follow  up  the  meagre 
advantage  of  the  nineteenth. 

The  next  opportunity  to  crush  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la 
came  in  the  Battle  of  Bird  Creek  [Chusto-Talasah, 
Little  High  Shoals,  or  the  Caving  Banks],517  fought  De- 
cember 9,  1 86 1.  On  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  preceding 
month,  a  part  of  Cooper's  force  had  set  out  for  Tulsey 
Town  and  an  advance  guard  had  been  sent  up  the  Ver- 
digris in  the  direction  of  a  place,  called  "Coody's  Set- 
tlement," where  Colonel  John  Drew  with  a  detachment 
of  his  regiment  of  Cherokee  full-bloods  was  posted. 
The  orders  were  that  Drew  should  effect  a  junction 
with  Cooper's  main  force  and,  on  December  eighth 
they  were  all  encamped  on  Bird  Creek  in  the  south- 

516  Colonel  D.  H.  Cooper's  "Report"  {Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  viii,  5]. 

517  Colonel  D.  H.  Cooper's  "Report"   [Official  Records,   first  sen,  vol.  viii, 
7,  709]- 


256     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

western  corner  of  the  Cherokee  Nation.  At  this  junc- 
ture, word  came  that  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  wished  to  treat 
for  peace  and  Major  Pegg,  a  Cherokee,  with  three  com- 
panions was  sent  forward  to  confer  with  him.  They 
found  the  Creek  chief,  surrounded  by  his  warriors  and 
ready  for  battle.  It  was  evening  and  Colonel  Cooper 
had  scarcely  heard  the  news  of  the  Creek  determination 
to  fight  when  a  message  came  that  four  companies  of 
Drew's  regiment,  horrified  at  the  thought  of  fighting 
with  their  neighbors,  had  dispersed  and  gone  over  to 
Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la.  The  incident  did  not  promise  well 
for  success  on  the  morrow  and  the  Battle  of  Bird 
Creek  was  another  indecisive  engagement,  although 
the  Creeks,  eager  and  resplendent  with  their  yellow 
corn-shuck  badges,  seem  to  have  had  all  the  advantage 
of  position.  Again  they  made  their  escape  and  again 
Colonel  Cooper  was  prevented  from  following  them, 
this  time  because  he  was  exceedingly  fearful  lest  the 
Cherokee  desertion  might  have  a  lasting  and  disastrous 
effect  upon  the  remaining  Indian  forces,  particularly 
upon  the  small  group  that  was  all  that  was  left  of  the 
original  First  Cherokee  Mounted  Rifles.  Cooper's  per- 
sonal opinion  was,  that  the  defection  was  widespread 
among  the  Cherokees  and  that  it  would  be  sheer  folly  to 
start  out  after  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  until  more  white 
troops  had  been  added  to  the  pursuing  force,  by  way 
both  of  reinforcement  and  of  encouragement. 

Instead,  therefore,  of  continuing  northward.  Colonel 
Cooper  drew  off  in  the  direction  of  Fort  Gibson  and, 
from  that  point,  sent  for  aid  to  Colonel  James  Mcln- 
tosh  at  Van  Buren.  He  then  occupied  himself  with  his 
own  troops  and  prevailed  upon  John  Ross  to  rally518  the 
Cherokees.  It  was  now  the  nineteenth  of  December  and 

518  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  pp.  355-357. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  257 

the  aged  chief  did  his  best  to  keep  his  people  true  to 
the  faith  that  the  nation  had  pledged  in  the  treaty  of 
the  seventh  of  October.  He  recalled  to  their  minds  the 
fact  that  it  was,  by  all  odds,  the  best  treaty  that  the 
Cherokees  had  ever  secured,  the  one  that  gave  them  the 
fullest  recognition  of  their  rights  as  a  semi-independent 
people,  and  he  might  have  added  with  sad,  sad  truth 
that  it  was  the  best  that  they  could  ever  hope  to  get. 
He  made  no  such  pessimistic  reflection,  however,  but 
concluded, 

It  is,  therefore,  our  duty  and  interest  to  respect  it,  and  we  must, 
as  the  interest  of  our  common  country  demands  it.  According 
to  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  we  must  meet  enemies  of  our 
allies  whenever  the  south  requires  it,  as  they  are  our  enemies  as 
well  as  the  enemies  of  the  south  ;  and  I  feel  sure  that  no  such  oc- 
currence as  the  one  we  deplore  would  have  taken  place  if  all 
things  were  understood  as  I  have  endeavored  to  explain  them. 
Indeed  the  true  meaning  of  our  treaty  is,  that  we  must  know 
no  line  in  the  presence  of  our  invader,  be  he  who  he  may.  .  ,619 

Colonel  Cooper  then  addressed520  the  Indians  and,  after 
him,  Major  Pegg;521  but  they  were  not  convinced  and 
many  of  them  went  home,  positively  refusing  to  march 
farther  with  the  army. 

Meanwhile   Cooper's  call   for   reinforcements   had 
reached  Mclntosh522  and,  as  the  need  seemed  so  urgent, 

519  Extract  from  John  Ross's  address  to  Drew's  regiment  [Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  356]. 

520  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1865,  p.  357. 

621 


522  Mclntosh,  at  the  time,  was  in  charge  of  McCulloch's  brigade,  McCul- 
loch  having  gone  to  Richmond  to  explain  to  the  authorities  there  why  he  had 
persistently  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge  of  refusing  to  cooperate  with  Ster- 
ling Price  in  his  many  Missouri  ventures,  planned  subsequent  to  the  Battle  of 
Wilson's  Creek.  McCulloch's  orders  from  the  Confederate  War  Department 
were  that  he  should  guard  the  Indian  Territory.  Price's  great  idea  was  to 
occupy  the  Missouri  River  country.  Had  McCulloch  gone  northward  with 
Price,  he  would,  so  he  ably  argued,  have  removed  himself  altogether  from  his 
base. 


258     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Mclntosh  resolved  to  supply  it  and  notified  Cooper  to 
that  effect.  Subsequently,  he  decided523  to  take  the  field 
in  person  and  to  head  a  column,  separate  from  Cooper's. 
What  induced  him  to  do  this,  nobody  can  well  say. 
Cooper  always  felt  that  the  incompleteness  of  the  vic- 
tory over  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la,  which  was  soon  to  come, 
was  mainly  attributable  to  the  divided  effort  of  the  at- 
tacking force.  In  the  two  former  engagements,  Opoeth- 
le-yo-ho-la's  force,  such  as  it  was,  untrained  and  miscel- 
laneous, had  greatly  outnumbered  the  Confederate;  but 
now  the  two  were  more  equally  matched  in  point  of 
numbers  and  the  chances  of  success  were  all  on  the 
southern  side  because  of  superior  training  and  equip- 
ment, so  Cooper  was  probably  correct  in  his  conjecture. 
Mclntosh's  excuse524  for  advancing  precipitately  and 
alone  was,  notwithstanding,  very  reasonable.  The 
scarcity  of  forage  made  it  expedient  to  march  compact- 
ly; and  the  two  generals  had  agreed,  so  Mclntosh  de- 
clared, when  in  conference  at  Fort  Gibson,  "that  either 
force  should  attack  the  enemy  on  sight." 

The  privilege  of  attacking  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  fell, 
under  this  arrangement,  supposing  it  was  made,  to  Mc- 
lntosh, who  had  been  able  to  push  on  in  advance  of 
Cooper.  The  Battle  of  Chustenahlah  was  fought  in  the 
early  afternoon  of  Decmber  26,  1861,  and  ended  in 
what  seemed  the  complete  defeat  of  the  Creeks.  Mc- 
lntosh reported  that,  although  their  position  was  strong, 
they  were  forced  to  retreat 

To  the  rocky  gorges  amid  the  deep  recesses  of  the  mountains, 
where  they  were  pursued  by  our  victorious  troops  and  routed  in 
every  instance  with  great  loss.  They  endeavored  to  make  a 
stand  at  their  encampment,  but  their  efforts  were  ineffectual,  and 

523  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  viii,  n. 

524  —  Hid,   22. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  259 

we  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  it.     The  battle  lasted  until  4 
o'clock,  when  the  firing  gradually  ceased.525.     . 

And  then  the  Creeks  fled,  leaving  practically  every- 
thing in  the  shape  of  property  behind  them.  Cooper 
came  up  and  detachments  of  his  troops  pursued  them 
almost  to  the  Kansas  line.  The  weather  was  bitterly 
cold,  provisions  scarce,  the  country  rough  and  bleak. 
The  pursuit  took  the  form  of  a  seven  day  scout;  but  the 
Creeks,  no  matter  how  great  their  dispersion,  were 
headed  straight  for  Walnut  Creek,  Kansas. 

Their  coming  was  anticipated.  Hearing  of  their  ap- 
proach, Superintendent  Coffin  had  directed526  all  the 
agents527  under  his  charge  to  report  to  him  for  duty  at  a 
place  on  the  Verdigris  River  called  Fort  Roe528  "about 
thirty-five  or  forty  miles  from  Leroy  and  Burlington." 
It  was  Coffin's  intention  to  meet  the  refugees  upon  their 
first  arrival;  but,  as  Commissioner  Dole  was  expected 
soon  to  be  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  he  thought  it  best  to 
wait529  and  consult  with  him.  It  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  recorded  on  just  what  date  the  first  of  the  Indian 
refugees  crossed  the  Kansas  line,  but  they  were  very 
soon  crossing  in  great  numbers  and,  by  the  time  Coffin 
finally  reached  them,  their  condition  was  truly  pitiable. 
They  took  up  their  station  on  the  bare  prairies  between 
the  Verdigris  and  the  Arkansas  Rivers  and  stretched 

525  Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  viii,  23-24. 

526  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  136. 

527  The   agents   were,   George   A.    Cutler,   Creek,  Charles  W.   Chatterton, 
Cherokee,  Isaac  Coleman,  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw,  G.  C.  Snow,  Seminole,  and 
Peter  P.  Elder,  Neosho  River.     Agent  Elder  did  not  report  for  duty. 

528  The  Indian  agents  usually  referred  to  it  as  "Fort  Roe"  but  the  military 
men,  with  a  few  possible  exceptions,  when  meaning  identically  the  same  local- 
ity, spoke  of  "Roe's  Fork."     There  is  no  such  place  as  Fort  Roe  given  in  the 
Lists  of  Military  Posts,  etc.,  established  in  the  United  States  from  its  earliest 
settlement  to  the  present  time,  published  by  the  United  States  War  Department, 
1902.     That  list,  however,  is  far  from  being  complete. 

529  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  138. 


260     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

themselves  in  almost  hopeless  confusion  over  about  two 
hundred  miles  of  country.  Fortunately  the  land  upon 
which  they  camped  was  Indian  land,  New  York  Indian 
land,  and  the  few  white  men  thereon  were  legally  in- 
truders and  could  not  consistently  object  to  the  presence 
of  the  refugees.  The  numbers  of  the  refugees  were 
variously  estimated.  Starting  with  about  forty-five 
hundred,630  they  increased  daily  and  at  an  astonishing 
rate;  for  the  exodus  of  the  Creeks  was  but  the  signal 
for  the  flight  of  other  tribesmen  from  Indian  Territory, 
of  all  those,  in  fact,  who  were  either  tired  of  their  alli- 
ance with  the  Confederacy  or  had  never  been  in  sym- 
pathy with  it  and  were  only  too  eager  to  take  the  first 
chance  to  escape  from  it. 

The  suffering  of  the  refugees,  due  to  destitution  and 
exposure,  was  something  horrible  to  think  upon.  Super- 
intendent Coffin  had  little  to  give  them.  He  appealed 
to  General  Hunter  for  an  allowance  from  the  army  sup- 
plies and  Hunter  sent  down  his  chief  commissary  of  sub- 
sistence, Captain  J.  W.  Turner,  to  do  what  he  could  to 
relieve  the  distress.  Hunter  also  sent  Brigade-surgeon 
A.  B.  Campbell;  for  it  was  not  simply  food  and  cloth- 
ing, that  were  needed  and  roof  shelter,  but  medical  at- 

530  In  compliance  with  instructions  from  Major-General  Hunter,  con- 
tained in  your  order  of  the  22d.  ultimo,  I  left  this  place  on  the  2zd.  and 
proceeded  to  Burlington,  where  I  learned  that  the  principal  part  of  the 
friendly  Indians  were  congregated,  and  encamped  on  the  Verdigris 
river,  near  a  place  called  Roe's  Fork,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  miles  south 
of  the  town  of  Belmont.  I  proceeded  there  without  delay.  By  a  census 
of  the  tribes  taken  a  few  days  before  my  arrival,  there  was  found  to  be 
of  the  Creeks,  3,168 ;  slaves  of  the  Creeks,  53 ;  free  negroes,  members 
of  the  tribe,  38;  Seminoles,  777;  Quapaws,  136;  Cherokees,  50;  Chick- 
asaws,  31;  some  few  Kickapoos  and  other  tribes,  about  4,500  in  all. 
But  the  number  was  being  constantly  augmented  by  the  daily  arrival  of 
other  camps  and  families.  .  .-A.  B.  CAMPBELL,  surgeon,  U.S.A.,  to 
James  K.  Barnes,  surgeon,  U.S.A.,  medical  director,  Department  of  Kan- 
sas, dated  Fort  Leavenworth,  February  5,  1862. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  261 

tendance.  As  soon  as  possible,  cheap  blankets531  were 
furnished  and  some  condemned  army  tents.  The  jour- 
ney northward  had  been  undertaken  in  the  bitterest  of 
cold  weather.  With  a  raw  northwest  wind  beating  in 
their  faces, 

And  over  the  snow-covered  roads,  they  travelled  all  night  and 
the  next  day,  without  halting  to  rest.  Many  of  them  were  on 
foot,  without  shoes,  and  very  thinly  clad.  .  .  In  this  condi- 
tion they  had  accomplished  a  journey  of  about  three  hundred 
miles ;  but  quite  a  number  froze  to  death  on  the  route,  and  their 
bodies  with  a  shroud  of  snow,  were  left  where  they  fell  to  feed 
the  hungry  wolves.  .  . 

Families  who  in  their  country  had  been  wealthy,  and  who 
could  count  their  cattle  by  the  thousands  and  horses  by  hundreds, 
and  owned  large  numbers  of  slaves,  and  who  at  home  had  lived 
at  ease  and  comfort,  were  without  the  necessaries  of  life.582 

58i  These  were  purchased  by  Coffin,  acting  under  the  advice  of  Hunter 
[Dole  to  Smith,  June  5,  1862,  Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  12,  pp.  392-396]. 

532  Extracts  from  Agent  Cutler's  Report,  September  30,  1862.  Various  re- 
ports, more  or  less  detailed,  descriptive  of  the  intense  sufferings  of  Indian 
refugees  in  the  first  weeks  of  their  sojourn  in  Kansas  may  be  found  in  the 
Annual  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  for  1862,  pp.  135-175. 
Those  of  Turner,  Campbell,  Cutler,  and  George  W.  Collamore  are  particularly 
good.  Some  of  the  reports  originally  accompanied  Dole's  Report  of  June  5, 
1862  [Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  12,  pp.  392-396;  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Report,  1862,  pp.  147-149 ;  House  Executive  Documents,  37th  congress, 
second  session,  vol.  x,  no.  132],  which  was  prepared  in  answer  to  a  House 
resolution,  calling  for  information  on  the  southern  refugee  Indians. 

Collamore's  Report  of  April  21,  1862  is  to  be  found  in  manuscript  form  in 
General  Files,  Southern  Superlntendency,  1859-1862,  Ci6o2.  Another  report, 
most  excellent  in  character,  issued  from  the  pen  of  special  agent,  William 
Kile,  February  21,  1862.  It  is  in  Land  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1855- 
1870,  Kio7-  There  are  also  a  few  good  accounts  of  the  Creek  exodus  of  1861. 
One  of  them  is  a  sworn  statement,  presented  by  Holmes  Colbert  in  a  letter, 
dated  March  25,  1868,  and  authoritatively  cited  by  Mix  in  an  office  letter  to 
Secretary  Browning,  June  8,  1868  [Indian  Office,  Report  Book,  no.  17,  p.  308]. 

Another  account  came  from  John  T.  Cox  to  W.  G.  Coffin  under  date  of 
March  18,  1864,  and,  while  not  in  the  least  detailed,  is  worth  quoting  because 
of  its  tribute  of  respect  to  the  loyal  Indians.  It  runs  thus: 

Herewith  I  enclose  a  map  of  the  route  of  retreat  of  the  early  Loyal 

Refugee  Indians,  under  Apoth  yo-ho-lo,  in  the  Winter  of  1861. 

With  the  facilities  within  my  reach,   for  obtaining  facts  connected 


262     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

When,  sometime  in  early  December,  Commissioner 
Dole  heard  of  the  resistance  that  the  unionist  Creeks 
were  making  to  Colonel  Cooper,  he  immediately  ap- 

with  that  remarkable  exodus,  I  am  fully  warrented  in  saying,  that  the 
history  of  the  War  does  not  furnish  a  parallel  of  patriotic  devotion  to 
the  Union. 

The  Rebels  had  managed  so  adroitly  during  the  administration  of 
Buchanan,  as  to  secure  the  appointment  of,  or  favor  of  every  Govern- 
ment Official,  or  Employee,  within  the  limits  of  the  South  Indian  Coun- 
try, all  sources  of  information  were  corrupted  or  poisoned.  Postmasters 
deplored  the  fall  of  the  Old  Government,  as  already  taken  place,  Indian 
Agents,  and  all  others  holding  business  relations  with  the  several  tribes, 
used  every  means  in  their  power  to  discourage  them  and  destroy  their 
confidence  in  the  Old  Government,  resorting  to  the  grossest  Misrepre- 
sentations, Bribery  of  Chiefs,  Headmen,  &c.,  Malfeasance  and  Robbery - 
Military  Posts,  Government  Stores,  Ordnance  &c.  &c.  were  surrendered 
or  abandoned  under  color  of  the  most  dire  military  necessity,  and  the  ap- 
parent tardiness  of  the  Old  Government  to  render  them  timely  assistance, 
or  in  any  way  counteract  those  influences,  left  them  without  counsel,  and 
without  friends,  and  implied  a  total  abandonment  of  the  Indians.  Yet 
under  all  the  discouraging  surroundings  a  large  portion  of  the  Creeks, 
Cherokees,  Seminoles  and  others  maintained  their  loyalty.  The  Chick- 
asaws  were  divided  in  their  Councils,  and  the  Choctaws  went  over  al- 
most entirely  to  the  Rebel  Government. 

In  the  month  of  March  1861,  international  councils  were  held,  first 
at  the  Creek  Agency,  next  at  North  Fork,  without  affecting  very  materi- 
ally the  fidelity  of  the  Indians.  But  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  the 
Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  gave  in  full  adhesion  to  the  Confederate 
Government.  The  remaining  tribes  were  alternating  between  the  Coun- 
sels of  Apoth-yo-ho-lo,  McDaniel  and  others  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
swarm  of  Rebel  Commissioners  on  the  other. 

The  Rebel  Government  was  pushing  forward  the  organization  of 
Indian  Regiments,  under  the  Mclntoshes,  Stan  Watie,  Adair,  Jumper, 
Smith  and  others,  while  the  Conservative  element,  forming  a  Cherokee 
Regiment  under  Col.  Drew,  for  armed  neutrality,  but  in  truth  loyal  to 
the  Union,  while  Apoth-yo-ho-lo  headed  the  hostiles,  as  they  were 
termed  by  the  Rebels. 

In  a  Report  dated  Creek  Agency  C.N.  Dec.  i6th.,  1861,  addressed  to 
the  Hon.  David  Hubbard,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Richmond, 
Va.,  the  Creek  Agent,  Col.  Garrert  says,  See  Copy  marked  "A"  (Gar- 
rett's  report  to  Hubbard  appears  in  another  connection  in  the  present 
work.  It  seems  to  have  come  into  the  Indian  Office  from  two  independ- 
dent  sources).  I  have  noted  this  to  show  the  attitude  of  the  several 
tribes  at  the  beginning  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  principal  object  of  this  report  is  to  call  attention  to  the  real 
claims  of  the  Indians  upon  the  Government,  not  only  to  sympathy,  but 


[From    Office  of  Indian   Affairs'] 


THt  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  265 

plied  once  more,  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to 
the  War  Department  for  troops  sufficient  to  assert  Fed- 
eral supremacy  south  of  the  Kansas  line,  his  immediate 
object  being,  the  strengthening  of  the  force  then  op- 
posed to  Cooper.    At  the  moment,  Lane's  expedition 
was  under  consideration,  Lane  having  managed  to  con- 
vince the  Washington  authorities,  both  congressional 
and  administrative,  that  an  expedition  southward  was 
absolutely  necessary538  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier. 
Somewhat  earlier,  in  fact  in  the  late  autumn,  the  non- 
secession  Indians  of  various  tribes  had  made  their  own 
appeal  for  help.    They  had  made  it  to  the  United  States 
government  and  also,  a  little  later  on,  to  the  Indian 
tribes  of  Kansas.    Along  about  the  first  of  November, 
a  mixed  delegation534  of  Creeks,  Seminoles,  and  Chick- 
compensation   for  services  from  the  time  they  abandoned  their  homes 
and  all  they  possessed,  and  took  up  arms  in  support  of  the  Government. 
Although  they  claim  nothing  of  the  kind,  yet  the  moral  effect  of  such 
a  tangible  recognition  of  their  early  services,  would  insure  fidelity  of  all 
other  tribes    against  any  other  future   rebellion   or  disaffection   against 
our  Government. 

The  history  of  their  destitution,  and  terrible  sufferings  in  their  pil- 
grimage of  three  hundred  miles  in  mid-winter,  is  familiar  to  you  and 
not  necessary  here  to  relate  [General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency, 
1863-1864,  €824]. 

533  Others  had  reached  that  decision  likewise.     On  the  tenth  of  December, 
McClellan  had  written  to  Halleck,  "I  shall  send  troops  to  Hunter  to  enable 
him  to  move  into  the  Indian  Territory  west  of  Arkansas  and  upon  Northern 
Texas.     That  movement  should  relieve  you  very  materially"  -  Official  Records, 
first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  419.     See  also  the  letter  of  December  u,  1861  [ibid.,  428]. 

534  It  was  to  this  delegation,  I  have  no  doubt,  that  the  Shawnees  sent  their 
note  of  encouragement.     It  bears  date  November  15,  1861  and  was  issued  from 
the  Shawnee  Agency,  Johnson  County,  Kansas.  Its  inspiring  passages  are  these: 

Brothers,  hold  fast  to  the  Union!  Hold  to  your  treaties!  And  now 
call  upon  the  United  States  government  to  fulfill  their  treaty  stipula- 
tions with  you  by  protecting  you  in  this  your  time  of  need,  and  save 
your  country  to  you  first,  and  then,  by  so  doing,  save  the  whole  of  the 
Indian  country  to  the  Union. 

.  .  .  And  now  our  advice  to  you  is,  go  immediately  to  Washing- 
ton City,  lay  your  case  before  President  Lincoln,  state  everything,  and 
we  assure  you  that  he  will  protect  you,  and  that  immediately;  we  think 
that  delay  on  your  part  will  be  ruinous  to  your  people ;  we  believe  that 


266     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

asaws  had  made  its  appearance535  at  Leroy  and,  finding 
there  the  United  States  Creek  agent,  George  A.  Cutler, 
had  consulted  with  him  "in  reference  to  the  intentions 
of  the  Federal  government  regarding  the  protection  due 
them  under  treaty  stipulations."  Cutler  advised  the 
Indians  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  Senator  Lane  and 
accompanied  them  to  Fort  Scott,  Lane's  headquarters, 
for  the  purpose.  Arriving  there,  they  learned  that 
Lane  had  gone  to  Washington  and  had  left  his  com- 
mand in  charge  of  Colonel  James  Montgomery.  Col- 
onel Montgomery  counselled  with  the  Indians  as  Cut- 
ler had  done  and  helped  them  to  reach  the  decision  that 
it  would  be  best  to  proceed  to  Washington  and  lay  their 
complaints  before  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 
At  the  same  time,  Montgomery  notified536  President 
Lincoln  of  their  intention. 

Still  accompanied  by  Agent  Cutler,  the  delegation 
resumed  its  journey,  going  by  way  of  Fort  Leaven- 
worth.  There  they  conferred537  with  General  Hunter 
and  left  greatly  strengthened  in  their  resolution  of  pro- 
ceeding to  Washington;  for  Hunter,  too,  thought  that 
such  a  trip  might  compel  the  government  to  realize  the 
Indian's  very  real  distress  and  its  own  obligation  to  re- 
lieve it.  We  are  fain  to  believe  that  General  Hunter 
personally  believed  in  the  military  necessity  of  securing 
Indian  Territory  even  though  he  did  do  all  he  could  to 
oppose  the  project  of  Senator  Lane  in  the  early  months 
of  1862  and  even  though  he  did  disapprove  of  the  for- 
mation of  the  department  of  Kansas  and  his  own  assign- 

your  agent  ought  to  conduct  you  there.     Put  your  confidence  only  in  the 

Union  and  you   will  be    safe.     .     .  -  Commissioner   of   Indian   Affairs, 

Report,  1861,  p.  45. 

535  Report  of  Agent  Cutler,  September  30,  1862  [Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  138]. 

636  Montgomery  to  Lincoln,  November  19,  1861  [ibid.,  1861,  p.  461]. 

537  Hunter  to  Dole,  December  i,  1861  [Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Report,  1861,  p.  49]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  267 

ment  to  it  instead  of  to  that  of  Missouri,  which  would 
have  been  his  preference.  If  he  at  any  time  to  date  had 
wavered538  in  his  opinion  as  to  the  needs  of  the  Indians 
and  their  legitimate  claim  upon  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment for  protection,  Carruth's  letter  of  November 
twenty-sixth  ought  to  have  settled  the  matter,  unless,  in- 
deed, its  rather  savage  tone  had  created  prejudice  in- 
stead of  working  conviction  as  was  intended. 

.  .  .  I  have  from  the  first  believed  it  would  be  good 
policy  to  let  loose  the  northern  Indians,  under  the  employ  of 
government;  it  certainly  would  be  better  for  the  border  States 
to  have  the  Indian  country  for  a  battle  ground  than  to  have  it 
remain  a  shelter  for  rebel  hordes  the  coming  winter.  .  ,539 

The  visit  of  the  Indians  to  Washington  proved  very 
opportune.  By  the  twenty- seventh  of  December,  they 
were  back  at  Fort  Leavenworth  and  considerably  re- 
assured. Superintendent  Coffin  had  a  council  with 
them  on  the  twenty-eighth  "at  the  Fort  to  good  satisfac- 
tion." He  says  of  his  interview, 

I  gave  them  Presents  of  Pipes,  tobacco,  and  Sugar,  and  they 
went  on  their  way  to  Fort  Scott  rejoicing  they  seem  to  be  in 
fine  Spirits,540  but  are  at  a  Loss  what  to  do  for  a  living  til  Lanes 
Army  goes  down  there  into  the  Indian  Territory  they  want  very 
much  to  get  Some  of  the  Funds  now  due  the  Creeks.  .  ,541 

538  Note    that   Hunter,   when    writing   to    McClellan,   December    19,    1861 
[Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  450],  professed  that,  previous  to  the  re- 
ceipt of  McClellan's  letter  of  the  eleventh,  he  had  not  known  that  it  was  ex- 
pected of  him  that  he  should  undertake  an  expedition  for  the  defense  of  Indian 
Territory.     He   declared   that  Thomas'   communication  of  November  twenty- 
sixth,  touching  the  matter,  had  been  vague  in  the  extreme. 

539  Extract  from  letter  of  Carruth   to  Hunter,  November  26,  1861    [Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1861,  p.  49]. 

540  It  seems  a  little  surprising  that  they  did  depart  from  Fort  Leavenworth 
in  such  good  spirits;  for,  while  there,  they  surely  must  have  heard  rumors  of 
the  final  attack  upon  Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la.     Agent  Cutler  tells  us  that  he  heard 
of  the  exodus  a  few  days  after  his  return  to  Kansas  with  the  delegation.     He 
had  then  left  Leavenworth,  however,  for  he  says  farther  on  in  his  letter  that 
he  went  back  there  to  confer  with  Coffin  as  to  what  should  be  done. 

541  Extract   from    letter    of   Coffin   to   Dole,   December   28,    1861    [General 
Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862]. 


268     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

A  more  pathetic  appeal,  and  one  more  immediately 
telling  in  its  effects,  was  that  made  to  the  brother  In- 
dians of  Kansas.  It  came  direct  from  Opoeth-le-yo- 
ho-la  and  when  it  reached  the  Delawares  found  in  them 
a  ready  response.  It  invited  their  cooperation542  in  the 
war  and  asked  for  men  and  ammunition.543  This  is  the 
Delaware  reply:544 

We  are  much  rejoiced  to  receive  your  letter  by  James  Mc- 
Daniel 545  and  David  Balon.  Our  Agent  has  sent  it  to  our 

542  See  letter  of  Mix  to  F.  Johnson  at  the  Delaware  Agency,  Quindaro, 
Kansas,   dated  January  22,  1862,   acknowledging  Johnson's  letter  of  January 
fourth,  which  enclosed 

A  copy  of  the  reply  of  the  Delaware  Chiefs  in  Council  to  the  letter  of 
the  Creek  Chief  O-poeth-lo-yo-ho-la,  inviting  their  cooperation  against 
the  rebel  States.  .  .  -  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  pp.  271-272. 

543  On  the  ist  inst.,  I  mailed  you  the  letter  of  Opoth-la-yar-ho-la  Mus- 
cogee   Chief   to  the  Delawares   asking  for   men   and   ammunition.     On 
the  2nd  inst.  the  Delaware  chiefs  in  Council  returned  the  following  let- 
ter in  answer  to  Opoth-la-ho-la.     .    .  -  F.  JOHNSON  to  Dole,  dated  Quin- 
daro,  Kansas,   January   4,   1862    [General   Files,  Delaware,   1862-1866, 

J543]. 

544  John  Connor,   Head   Chief,   Ne-con-he-con,   Sur-cox-ie,    Chas.   Jour- 
neycake,  Assistant  Chiefs,  to  Oputh-la-yar-ho-la,  Muscogee  Chief  War- 
rior  and  our  loyal   Grand   Children  dated  Delaware   Nation,   Kansas 
Jan,  3rd  1861. 

545  James  McDaniel  seems  to  have  been  a  Cherokee.     On  April  2,  1862, 
Agent  Johnson   reported   to   Dole    that   forty-one   Delaware   Indians   had    re- 
turned  destitute  from  the  Cherokee  country  and  that  he  had  given  them  as- 
sistance  and   also  "a  refugee  Cherokee  chief,  James  McDaniel."     This  idea 
is  further  borne  out  by  the  following  letter: 

Office  of   U.S.   Agent   for  Cherokees 
Tahlequah,  Ind.   Ter.  April  7,   1873 
HON.  H.  R.  CLUM,  Acting  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affs 

SIR:  I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the  fall 
and  winter  of  1861  Opothleyoholo  a  Creek  and  James  McDaniel  a  Chero- 
kee placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  loyal  Creeks,  Seminoles, 
Cherokees  &  others.  Unsustained  by  any  U.S.  forces  they  gathered  on 
Bird  Creek,  in  this  Nation,  to  resist  rebel  conscription  into  their  army. 
They  tried  to  avoid  a  fight,  to  make  their  way  peacably  to  the  union 
army  in  Kansas,  by  a  far  western  route.  But  Gen.  Douglas  H. 
Coopper,  &  Gen.  Stand  Watie,  with  troops  from  Texas,  &  Arkansas,  & 
with  rebel  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws  &c  pressed  upon  them,  &  at- 
tempted to  bring  them  into  subjection  to  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  269 

great  Father,  the  President,  "at  Washington,"  and  to  Gen.  Hun- 
ter at  "Fort  Leavenworth."  It  gives  us  great  pleasure  to  hear 
that  you  are  good  and  true  friends  to  the  President,  and  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States.  We  hope  you  will  continue 
to  be  their  friend.  If  bad  men  of  the  South  ask  you  to  go  to  war 
against  the  President,  stop  your  ears,  don't  listen  to  them,  they 
are  your  worst  enemies,  they  are  trying  to  destroy  you  and  the 
Country. 

Grand  Children  it  does  our  hearts  good,  we  rejoice  to  hear 
of  the  victories  you  have  gained  over  your  enemies  of  the  Gov- 
ernment under  your  brave  leader  Oputh-la-yar-ho-la. 

Grand  Children  we  are  ready  and  willing  to  help  you.  Our 
brave  Warriors  are  ready  to  spill  their  Blood  for  you,  and  are 
only  waiting  to  hear  from  our  great  Father  at  Washington,  we 
have  asked  of  him  the  privaledge  of  going  to  your  assistance,  and 
hope  that  our  request  will  be  granted,  we  don't  wish  to  go  to 
War  against  the  wishes  of  our  great  Father  the  President.  We 
have  heard  that  the  President  will  soon  have  a  large  Army  in 


They  adhered  to  their  loyalty.  Fought  the  rebel  forces  in  three  or  four 
battles.  At  first  vanquishing  the  rebel  forces,  but  finally  were  over- 
come, &  compelled  to  flee  to  Kansas  in  mid-winter,  with  women  &  chil- 
dren. In  Kansas  these  men  were  organized  into  regiments,  &  on  ar- 
riving in  the  Cherokee  Nation  were  largely  reinforced  by  their  friends 
here,  &  in  the  Creek  &  Seminole  Nations. 

I  have  made  this  statement  so  that  you  may  see  the  situation  in 
which  these  men  are  placed,  &  judge  intelligently. 

No<w  I  wish  to  know  if  men  wounded  in  those  engagements,  under 
Opothleyoholo  &  James  McDaniel,  while  fighting  against  the  rebels, 
&  the  widows  of  those  who  were  killed,  &  those  who  were  otherwise 
disabled  in  those  fights,  &  in  the  subsequent  flight,  are  entitled  to  the 
benefits  of  pension  laws.  Can  they  be  pensioned  under  existing  laws? 

If  not,  can  you,  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  prevail  on  the 
President  to  have  the  matter  presented  to  the  next  Congress,  with  a 
view  to  having  these  persons  placed  on  the  rolls  of  the  pension  office. 
I  need  say  nothing  of  the  propriety  of  the  Government  rewarding  as  far 
as  possible,  such  acts  of  loyalty  &  voluntary  fighting  for  the  Govern- 
ment by  full  blood  Indians  -  when  all  the  influence  &  power  of  faithless 
Indian  Agents,  &  Superintendants,  &  the  Southern  army  from  Texas  & 
Arkansas,  &  the  more  wealthy  &  educated  mixed  blood  Indians,  were 
arrayed  against  them.  It  should  be  rewarded,  as  far  [as]  practicable, 
as  an  incentive  to  like  faithfulness  in  any  emergency  that  may  arise  in 
the  future.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  Very  Respectfully  Your  Obdt.  Ser- 
vant JOHN  B.  JONES,  U.S.  Agent  for  Cherokees 


270     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  Indian  Country  to  protect  you,  that  he  has  ordered  Gen. 
Lane  to  march  to  your  relief.  We  are  confident  that  our  great 
Father  is  able  and  will  protect  his  red  children  -  Grand  Chil- 
dren we  pray  to  the  "great  spirit"  to  protect  you  and  keep  you 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  bad  men  of  the  South,  who  are  trying  to 
destroy  you  and  the  Government  -  We  have  no  fears  as  to  the 
result  of  this  war  -  the  President  has  large  Armies  in  the  field 
that  will  conquer  and  punish  the  Rebels  -  We  are  proud  of  our 
Muscogee  Children. 

The  United  States  government  had  already  deter- 
mined upon  an  expedition  to  the  Indian  country  and, 
yielding  to  the  importunities  of  Senator  Lane,  who  rep- 
resented General  Hunter  as  in  full  accord  with  himself 
in  the  matter,  had  decided  to  use  the  Kansas  Indians  in 
the  making  up  of  the  attacking  force.  It  was  well  that 
the  Indians  had  manifested  a  readiness  to  fight  and  that 
the  Delawares,  particularly,  had  overcome  their  previ- 
ous aversion.  The  first  official  record  of  the  fact  that 
the  decision  to  use  the  Kansas  Indians  had  been  reached 
appears  to  be  a  communication546  from  Assistant  Ad- 
jutant-general E.  D.  Townsend  to  Surgeon-general 
C.  A.  Finley,  under  date  of  December  31,  1861,  notify- 
ing him  that  medical  supplies  would  soon  be  needed 
for  a  force  of  about  twenty-seven  thousand  men,  about 
four  thousand  of  whom  were  to  be  Indians,  which 
was  to  be  concentrated  at  an  early  day  near  Fort  Leav- 
enworth.  On  the  third  of  January,  Lane  wrote547  to 

546  Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  576. 

547  WASHINGTON,  D.C.  January  3,  1862. 
MAJOR-GENERAL  HUNTER,  Commanding  Kansas  Department: 

It  is  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  order  me  to  report  to  you 
for  an  active  winter's  campaign.  They  have  ordered  General  Denver 
to  another  department.  They  have  ordered  to  report  to  you  eight  regi- 
ments cavalry,  three  of  infantry,  and  three  batteries,  in  addition  to  your 
present  force.  They  have  also  ordered  you,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Indian  Department,  to  organize  4,000  Indians.  Mr.  Doles,  Commis- 
sioner, will  come  out  with  me.  J.  H.  LANE. 
Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  482. 


Alliance  'with  the  Confederacy  271 

Hunter,  informing  him,  as  if  at  first  hand  and  semi- 
officially, of  the  new  plan.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  General  Hunter  took  offence  at  the  officiousness 
and  presumption  Lane  displayed.  In  point  of  fact,  it 
was  a  clear  case  of  executive  interference. 

Now  that  it  had,  to  all  appearances,  gained  a  long- 
desired  object,  the  Indian  Office  lost  no  time  in  lending 
the  War  Department  its  hearty  cooperation.  Commis- 
sioner Dole  was  especially  enthusiastic  and,  under  in- 
structions from  Secretary  Smith,  prepared  to  go  out  to 
Kansas  himself  to  help  organize  the  Indians  for  army 
service.  He  also  sent  particulars548  of  the  new  move- 
ment to  Superintendent  Branch  and  a  circular  letter549 
to  the  agents  of  the  central  superintendency,  detailing 
the  advantages  that  would  accrue  to  individual  Indians 
should  they  enlist.  Dole  wrote  these  letters  on  the  sixth 
of  January  and  was  then  expecting  to  be  in  Leaven- 
worth  City  for  the  making  of  final  arrangements  eight 
or  ten  days  "hence."  He  did  not  manage  to  get  away, 

548  It  being  the  intention  of  the  Gov't  of  the  United  States  to  take  into 
its  miliary  service  4000  Indians  from  the  borders  of  Kansas  and  Mis- 
souri, to  be  organized  under  Major  Gen1  Hunter,  you  are  hereby  made 
acquainted  therewith.  The  different  Agents  in  your  superintendency 
will  be  instructed  direct  from  this  Office  to  use  their  best  endeavors  to 
engage  the  above  number  of  Indians,  taking  care  that  those  so  engaged 
are  capable  of  good  service  and  are  well  affected  towards  this  Gov- 
ernment. 

All  the  operations  in  this  behalf  should  be  conducted  with  dispatch 
and  as  much  secrecy  as  the  nature  of  the  measure  will  admit  of. 

I  understand  that  the  Government  proposes  to  equalize  the  pay  of 
these  Indian  volunteers  with  that  of  other  volunteers,  but  giving  the 
chiefs  an  additional  compensation.  Each  man  will  receive  a  blanket,  and 
those  not  having  arms  of  their  own  will  be  provided  by  the  Govern- 
ment. Their  subsistence  will  be  the  same  as  that  provided  in  Re- 
vised Regulations  No.  5,  Section  39  of  this  Bureau,  or  the  army  sub- 
sistence, whatever  that  may  be.  Where  any  of  the  Indians,  thus  en- 
gaged, shall  die  or  be  killed  whilst  in  service,  their  pay  will  be  given 
over  to  their  families  -  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  pp.  211-212. 
s*9  —  Ibid.,  215-216. 


272     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

however,  quite  so  soon ;  but  the  agents  went  to  work  im- 
mediately and,  even  before  Dole  arrived  in  Kansas, 
Agent  Farnsworth,  who  had  always  been  rather  too 
eager  for  Indian  enlistment,  was  able  to  report550  the 
initial  steps  taken.  By  the  twenty-first  of  January,551 
Dole  was  well  on  his  way  west.  He  reached  Kansas  in 
due  season  and  there  learned552  for  the  first  time,  that 
Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  had  been  completely  overwhelmed, 
that  the  refugees  were  on  the  Verdigris,  and  that  Gen- 
eral Hunter  was  subsisting  them.  This  was  doleful 
news,  indeed,  and  made  the  project  of  a  southern  ex- 
pedition seem  more  and  more  expedient. 

General  Hunter  had  done  the  best  he  could  to  relieve 
the  awful  sufferings  of  the  refugees;  but,  on  the  sixth 
of  February,  he  was  obliged  to  inform553  Dole  that  he 
could  do  no  more,  that  he  had  practically  reached  the 

550  Farnsworth  wrote  on  the  2ist,  acknowledging  Dole's  letter  of  the  sixth 
and  saying, 

Its  contents  has  been  explained  to  two  trusty  Indians,  who  will  keep 
the  matter  entirely  secret  until  the  time  for  public  action  comes.  I  have 
sent  for  the  Indians  to  come  in.  I  think  they  will  all  be  here  by  the 
3oth  or  3ist  of  this  month.  I  will  enroll  them  as  soon  as  possible.  I 
think  I  shall  be  able  to  enlist  about  150  vigorous  warriors.  .  .-Gen- 
eral Files,  Kickapoo,  1855-1862,  FSJS- 

551  Your  communication  to  this  office  of  the  jist  December  last  has  been 
received  enclosing  a  letter  which  was  brought  to  you  by  a  messenger 
from  the   South,   as  you   were   holding   a    Council   with   the  Delaware 
Chiefs  of  your  Agency,  and  which  letter  you  desired  to  be  laid  before 
the  President  of  the  United  States.     Your  communication  also  represent- 
ed the  readiness  of  the  Delawares  and  all  the  other  Western  tribes  to 
engage  in  military  service  on  the  side  of  the  Government  against  the 
rebel  States. 

With  reference  to  all  these  Subjects,  you  will  have  an  opportunity  of 
conferring  with  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  (who  has  perused 
your  letter  in  person)  at  Leavenworth  City,  for  which  destination  he 
left  this  City  on  Sunday  last  on  public  business.  -  CHARLES  E.  Mix, 
acting  commissioner,  to  F.  Johnson,  January  21,  1862  [Indian  Office, 
Letter  Book,  no.  67,  p.  268]. 

652  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  pp.  26,   147-148. 
553 1  have   the  honor  to  inform  you  that   Capt.  J.  W.   Turner,   Chief 
Commissary  of  Subsistence  of  the  Department,  has  just  returned  from 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  273 

end  of  his  resources,  and  that,  after  the  fifteenth  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  whole  responsibility  of  subsisting  the  desti- 
tute Indians  would  have  to  fall  upon  the  Interior  De- 
partment. Dole  was  almost  at  his  wits'  end.  He  had 
no  funds  that  he  could  use  legitimately  for  the  need  that 
had  arisen.  It  was  a  case  of  emergency,  however,  and 
something  certainly  had  to  be  done.  Before  the  fif- 
teenth of  December  arrived,  additional  reports554  came 

the  encampments  of  the  loyal  Indians,  on  the  Verdigris  river,  and  in  its 
vicinity.  Having  made  arrangements  for  subsisting  these  unfortunate 
refugees  until  the  isth  day  of  the  present  month. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Belmont  and  Roe's  Fort,  there  were,  at  the 
time  Capt.  Turner  left,  about  four  thousand  five  hundred  Indians, 
chiefly  Creeks  and  Seminoles.  But  their  number  was  being  constantly 
augmented  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  camps,  tribes  and  families. 

Their  condition  is  pictured  as  most  wretched  -  destitute  of  clothing, 
shelter,  fuel,  horses,  cooking  utensils  and  food.  This  last  named  article 
was  supplied  by  Capt.  Turner  in  quantities  sufficient  to  last  until  the 
15th  instant  after  which  time,  I  doubt  not,  you  will  have  made  further 
arrangements  for  their  continued  subsistence. 

In  taking  the  responsibility  of  supplying  their  wants  until  the  Indian 
Department  could  make  provision  for  their  necessities  I  but  fulfilled  a 
duty  due  to  our  common  humanity  and  the  cause  in  which  the  Indians 
are  suffering.  I  now  trust  and  have  every  confidence  that  under  your 
energetic  and  judicious  arrangements  these  poor  people  may  be  sup- 
plied with  all  they  need  after  the  15th  instant,  on  which  day  the  sup- 
plies furnished  by  Capt.  Turner  will  be  exhausted. 

I  make  no  doubt  that  provision  should  be  made  for  feeding,  cloth- 
ing and  sheltering  not  less  than  six  thousand  Indians,  and  possibly  as 
high  as  ten  thousand,  on  this  point  however,  you  are  doubtless  better 
prepared  to  judge  than  myself.  I  only  wish  to  urge  upon  you  the  neces- 
sity for  prompt  measures  of  relief. 

P.S.  Copies  of  the  reports  made  by  Capt.  Turner  and  Brigade  Sur- 
geon Campbell  will  be  furnished  to  you  by  tomorrow's  post,  in  view  of 
the  urgency  of  this  case,  and  the  fact  that  these  Indians  cannot  be 
supplied  any  further  than  have  been  done  from  the  supplies  of  the 
army,  I  send  one  copy  of  this  letter  to  Topeka  and  the  other  to  Leaven- 
worth  City.  Fearful  suffering  must  ensue  amongst  the  Indians  unless 
the  steps  necessary  are  promptly  taken. 

This  letter  was  forwarded  by  Edw.  Wolcott,  at  Dole's  request,  to  the  Indian 
Office  [General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Wsis]. 

554  Coffin  to  Dole,  dated  Fort  Roe,  Verdigris  River,  Kansas,  February  13, 
1862  [General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency,  1859-1862,  Ci526];  Snow  to 
Coffin,  February  13,  1862  [General  Files,  Seminole,  1858-1869}. 


274     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

in  from  Superintendent  Coffin,  detailing  distress.  Un- 
der the  circumstances  it  was  necessary  to  act  quickly 
and  without  congressional  authorization.  Dole  tele- 
graphed555 to  Secretary  Smith, 

Six  thousand  Indians  driven  out  of  Indian  territory,  naked  and 
starving.  General  Hunter  will  only  feed  them  until  I5th. 
Shall  I  take  care  of  them  on  the  faith  of  an  appropriation? 

He  received  a  reply556  that  should  have  been  dictated, 
not  so  much  in  the  spirit  of  generosity,  as  of  simple  jus- 
tice: 

Go  on  and  supply  the  destitute  Indians,  Congress  will  supply 
the  means.  War  Department  will  not  organize  them. 

With  this  approbation  in  hand,  Dole  went  to  work,  pur- 
chased sufficient  supplies  on  credit,  and  appointed557  a 
special  agent,  Dr.  William  Kile  of  Illinois,  who  had 
been  commissioned558  by  President  Lincoln  to  act  on 
Lane's  staff  and  was  then  in  Kansas  as  Lane's  brigade 
quartermaster,  to  attend  to  their  distribution.  Mean- 
while, the  attention  of  Congress  had  been  called  to  the 
matter  and  a  particularly  strong  letter  of  Dole's,  de- 
scribing the  utter  misery  of  the  exiles,  was  read  in  the 
Senate  February  14,  in  support  of  a  joint  resolution  for 
their  relief.559  It  was  intended  originally  to  apply  only 
to  the  loyal  Creeks,  Seminoles,  and  Chickasaws  but  had 
its  title  changed  later  so  as  to  make  it  include  the  Choc- 
taws.  On  the  third  of  March,  Congress  passed  56°  an  act 
providing  that  the  annuities  of  the  "hostiles,"  Creeks, 
Chickasaws,  Seminoles,  Wichitas,  and  Cherokees,  should 
be  applied,  as  might  be  necessary,  to  the  relief  of  ref- 

555  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  148. 

556  _ 


557  Dole  to  Dr.  Kile,  February  10,  1862  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67, 
pp.  450-452]. 

668  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Report,  1862,  p.  148. 

559  Congressional  Globe,  37th  congress,  second  session,  p.  815. 

560  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  xiii,  562. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  275 

ugees  from  Indian  Territory.  It  was  expressly  stipu- 
lated in  this  enactment561  that  the  money  should  not  be 
used  for  other  than  Indian  Territory  tribes. 

Secretary  Smith's  telegram,  as  the  reader  has  prob- 
ably already  observed,  had  given  to  Dole  a  small  piece 
of  information  that  was  not  of  slight  significance,  sig- 
nifying as  it  did  a  change  of  front  by  the  War  Depart- 
ment. The  War  Department  had  rescinded  its  former 
action  and  had  now  refused  to  organize  the  Indians  for 
service.  The  objections  to  Lane's  enterprise  must  have 
been  cumulative.  Before  the  idea  of  it  had  embraced 
the  Indians  and  before  it  had  become  so  closely  identi- 
fied with  Lane's  name  and  personality,  in  fact,  while  it 
was  more  or  less  a  scheme  of  McClellan's,  Hunter  had 
interposed 562  objections,  but  purely  on  military  grounds. 
His  force  was  scarcely  equal  to  a  movement  southward. 
Subsequently,  Halleck  interposed  objections  likewise 
and  his  reasons,563  whatever  his  motives  may  have  been, 
were  perfectly  sound,  indeed,  rather  alarmingly  so, 
since  they  broadly  hinted  at  the  miserably  local  inter- 
ests involved  in  the  war  in  the  west  and  the  gross  sub- 
ordination of  military  policies  to  political.  Then  came 

561  It  was,  however,  the  beginning  of  a  great  deal  of  graft  and  misuse  of 
government  funds.     Citizens  of  Kansas,  otherwise  reputable,  prepared  to  reap 
a  rich  harvest,    and  government  officials  were  not   at  all  behindhand  in  the 
undertaking.     Presumably,  immediately  upon  the  departure  of  Hunter's  com- 
missary from  Fort  Roe,  the  Indians  began  to  get  into  the  debt  of  the  settlers 
and  the  sum  of  the  indebtedness  soon  mounted  up  tremendously.     Coffin  again 
and  again  urged  payment  [Coffin  to  Dole,  May  12,  1862],  so  did  Colonel  C. 
R.  Jennison  of  the  Seventh  Regiment  Kansas  Volunteers,  and  so  did  General 
Blunt. 

The  act  of  March  3,  1862,  reinforced  by  that  of  July  5,  1862  [United 
States  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  xii,  528]  was  re-enacted,  in  whole  or  in  part,  each 
year  of  the  war  [Act  of  March  3,  1863,  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  vol. 
xii,  793 ;  Act  of  June  25,  1864,  ibid.,  vol.  xiii,  180].  In  addition,  special  ap- 
propriations were  made,  like  that  of  May  3,  1864,  for  the  refugees. 

562  Hunter  to  Thomas,  December  n,  1861   [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
viii,  428];  McClellan  to  Hunter,  December  n,  1861  [ibid.]. 

563  Halleck  to  McClellan,  January  20,  1862  [ibid.,  509-510]. 


276     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Lane  with  energy  like  the  whirlwind,  a  local  politician 
through  and  through.  He  had  absolutely  no  respect 
for  official  proprieties  and  the  military  men,  opposed  to 
him,  were  men  of  small  calibre.  He  reached  Kansas, 
joyfully  intent  upon  putting  into  immediate  effect  the 
power  that  Lincoln  had  conferred  upon  him,  only  to 
find  that  there  stood  Hunter,  fully  prepared  to  contest 
authority  with  him.  The  Adjutant-general  had  writ- 
ten564 Hunter  that  Lane  had  not  been  given  a  command 
independent  of  his  own  and  that,  if  he  so  desired,  he 
might  conduct  the  expedition  southward  in  person.  In 
the  evening  of  the  twenty-sixth,  Lane  reached  Leaven- 
worth,  and  the  very  next  day,  Hunter  issued  general 
orders565  that  he  would  command  in  person.  Taken 
aback  and  excusably  indignant,  Lane  communicated566 
at  once  with  John  Covode  and  requested  him  to  impart 
the  news  to  the  President,  to  Stanton  567  and  the  new  Sec- 
retary of  War,  and  to  General  McClellan. 

Official  sensitiveness  was  unquestionably  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  whole  trouble,  yet  Lincoln  was  very  largely 
to  blame  for  having  yielded  to  Lane's  importunities. 
He  frankly  said  that  he  had  wished  to  keep  the  affair 
out  of  McClellan's  hands  as  far  as  possible.568  He 
hoped  to  profit  by  the  services  of  both  Hunter  and 
Lane  ;  but,  if  they  could  not  agree,  then  Lane  must  yield 
the  precedence  to  Hunter.  He  must  report  for  orders 
or  decline  the  service.569  Military  men,  stationed  in 
the  west,  and  civil  officers  of  Kansas  were  all  prejudiced 

564  Thomas  to  Hunter,  January  24,  1862  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
viii,  525-526]. 

565  —  Ibid.,  529-530. 


567  Stanton  had  become  Secretary  of  War,  January  15,  1862.     On  the  real 
reasons  for  Cameron's  retirement,  see  Welles'  Diary,  vol.  i,  57. 

568  Lincoln  to   Stanton,  January  31,   1862   [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol. 
viii,  538]. 

569  Lincoln  to  Hunter  and  Lane,  February  10,  1862  [ibid.,  551]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  277 

against  the  "Lane  Expedition."  57°  They  expected  it  to 
be  nothing  but  jayhawking  and  marauding  of  the  worst 
description.  The  Indians,  however,  were  deeply  dis- 
appointed571 when  a  halt  came  in  the  preparations. 

570  Hunter  to  Halleck,  February  8,  i86a  [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii, 
829-831];  Halleck  to  Hunter,  February  13,  1862  [ibid.,  554-555];  McClellan  to 
Halleck,  February  13,  1862  [ibid.,  555]. 

571  My  object  more  particularly  in  writing  to  you  to-night  is  on  account 
of  the  orders  that  we  learn   here  to-night  from  General   Gennison  to 
General   Hunter  that  no  Indians  are  to  be  mustered   into  the   Service 
we  have  taken  greate  paines  and  have  made  flattering  progress  in  en- 
rooling  them  according  to  the  orders  of  your  Selfe  and  General  Hunter 
nearly  all  of  them  set  apart  10  Dollars  out  of  their  wages  pr  month  for 
their  families  and  many  that  have  no  families  leave  it  in  the  hands  of 
the  Agents  for  their  benefit  after  the  war  is  over  and  they  are  burning 
with  revenge  and  spiling  for  a  fight  and  I  have  no  dout  at  all  but  they 
would  doo  good  Service  there  are  two  amongst  them  at  least  perhaps 
many  more  that  I  think  would  make  good  Commanders  Billy  Bowlegs 
&  Little  Captain  the  latter  a  Creek  that  commands  in  all  the  Late  Bat- 
tles and  they  suposed  that  he  was  killed  but  he  got  in  a  few  days  sine 
Billy  has  also  recently  arivd  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  these  Indians 
at  least  two  Thousand  of  them  for  such  a  campaigne  as  they  are  de- 
signed for  or  the  one  is  suposed  to  be  that  is  to  go  South  from  here 
are  as  well  calculated  for  as  any  Troops  that  could  be  selected  and  it 
will  make  great  trouble  with  them  as  they  have  their  harts  set  upon  it 
and  will  be  most  cruelly  disappointed  if  not  permettd  to  go  and  they 
should  be  got  back  as  soon  as  posabl  to  their  homes  as  the  planting  sea- 
son is  near  and  if  they  do  not  get  there  in  time  for  putting  in  a  crop 
the   present  Spring  it  looks  like  they  will   have  to  be   suportd  by  the 
Government  til  August  1863  or  til  a  crop  can  be  maturd  nex  year  which 
could  not  be  sooner  than  August  this  would  entail  a  heavy  expense  upon 
the  Indian  department  that  I  would  like  to  be  avoidd  I  have  had  an  In- 
terview with  General  Gennison  and  he  is  very  sure  that  if  they  would 
arm  these  Indians  and   give   him  three  thousd  other  Troops  he  could 
put  those  Indians  into  their  homes  in  time  for  a  crop  this  year  all  here 
are  very  much   disappointed  and  mortified  at  the  course  things  are  for 
their  families  will  be  no  small  Item  in  lessening  the  expense  of  Sub- 
sisting them  which  with  all  the  Economy  we  can  use  will  be  very  large.- 
COFFIN  to  Dole,  dated  Humboldt,  Kansas,  February  28,  1862  [General 
Files,  Southern  Supertntendency,  1859-1862,  Ci54i]. 

Since  writing  you  from  Humboldt  Dr.  Kile  &  my  selfe  have  visited 
Fort  Roe  to  make  arrangements  for  moving  the  Indians  to  the  Neosho 
on  getting  there  we  found  that  about  1500  of  them  had  left  for  this 
place  they  left  Saturday  noon  it  turned  cold  Saturday  night  and  com- 


278     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la  personally  addressed  a  communica- 
tion572 to  Lincoln.  He  wanted  nobody  but  Lane  to 
command  the  expedition.  Pending  a  settlement,  Dole 

menced  snowing  and  snowed  hard  most  of  the  day  Sunday  and  last 
night  was  the  coldest  of  the  season  the  Indians  all  got  to  timber  Sat- 
urday night  to  camp  and  remained  in  camp  Sunday  but  most  of  them 
ware  on  the  Road  to  day  tho  it  was  too  coald  to  travel  in  the  fix  they 
are  in  I  saw  many  of  them  barefooted  and  many  more  that  the  feett 
was  a  small  part  of  them  that  was  bare,  these  people  realy  seem  to  be 
doomd  to  suffer  for  this  Loyalty  beyond  measure,  the  goods  and  shoes 
ordered  by  Dr.  Kile  and  an  order  sent  by  myselfe  before  Kile's  arival 
have  not  yet  reached  here.  Kile  remained  at  Fort  Roe  to  Settle  and 
close  up  business  there  and  assist  in  the  araingements  for  starting  them 
from  there  and  I  came  on  to  se  to  those  on  the  way  and  make  araeng- 
ments  for  taking  care  of  them  when  they  get  here  I  found  many  of 
them  Sick  and  not  able  to  leave  camp  till  teams  are  sent  to  them  to 
aid  them.  We  find  that  we  cannot  move  them  with  less  than  about 
three  Teams  to  the  Hundred  and  it  may  overrun  that  the  weather  is 
moderating  now  and  we  shall  make  a  vigorous  effort  to  move  them  as 
quick  as  possible,  we  find  it  very  dificult  to  get  Teams  on  government 
vouchers  and  may  not  be  able  to  move  them  in  a  reasonable  time  on 
that  account  the  funds  I  brot  down  three  Thousand  Dollars  was  nearly 
exausted  before  Kile  arived  we  are  now  nearly  destitute  of  money  if  I 
find  it  as  dificult  around  here  to  get  teams  as  I  have  between  here  and 
the  fort  I  shall  make  an  effort  to  raise  some  funds  for  that  purpose 
tomorrow  with  what  success  remains  to  be  seen  we  have  kept  them 
pretty  well  suplied  with  Something  to  eat  so  far  but  that  is  all  we  can 
bost  of,  iff  we  ware  to  say  they  ware  well  clothed  there  would  be  ten 
thousand  square  ft  of  nakedness  gaping  forth  its  contradiction;  they 
have  been  out  of  Tobacco  for  Several  days  and  I  doo  think  one  days 
experience  in  camp  would  convince  the  most  skeptical  that  with  Indians 
at  least  the  weed  is  a  necessity,  the  Indians  of  all  tribs  held  a  grand 
council  last  Thursday  at  Fort  Roe  in  regard  to  the  war,  at  which  they 
determined  with  great  unanimity  to  gather  up  and  arm  as  best  they 
could,  all  there  able  bodied  men  and  go  down  with  the  army  on  their 
own  hook  and  aid  in  driving  out  the  Rebels  from  their  homes  in  time 
to  plant  a  crop  for  this  season  and  then  gather  all  the  Ponies  they  can 
and  they  think  they  can  capture  enough  from  the  Rebels  with  what  they 
have  to  come  up  for  their  families.  Cannot  the  Government  aid  so 
Laudible  an  enterprise  as  that  at  least  <with  a  few  guns  and  some  amun- 
ition  they  appear  to  be  in  good  earnest  and  are  feeding  up  the  best  of 
their  Ponies  for  the  Trip.  .  .  -  COFFIN  to  Dole,  dated  Leroy,  March 
3,  1862  [General  Files,  Southern  Superintendency ,  1859-1862,  €1544]. 
572  Letter  of  January  28,  1861  [Official  Records,  first  sen,  vol.  viii,  534]. 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  279 

ordered573  Coffin574  to  desist  from  further  enrollment. 
Secretary  Stanton  was  declared  opposed  to  the  use  of 
Indians  in  civilized  warfare.575  Soon  the  orders  for  the 
expedition  were  countermanded  with  the  understand- 
ing, explicit  or  implied,  that  it  should  later  proceed 
under  the  personal  direction  of  General  Hunter. 

The  military  situation  in  the  middle  west  and  the 
great  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Confederacy  to  gain  Mis- 
souri and  to  complete  her  secession  from  the  old  Union 
necessitated,  at  the  opening  of  1862,  a  thorough-going 
reorganization  of  forces  concentrated  in  that  part  of  the 
country.  Experience  had  shown  that  separate  and  in- 
dependent commands  had  a  tendency  to  become  too 
much  localized,  individual  commanders  too  much  in- 
clined to  keep  within  the  narrow  margin,  each  of  his 

573  I   have  a  despatch  from  Secretary  Smith  saying  that  the  Secretary 
of  War  is  opposed  to  mustering  the  Indians  into  the  service,  and  that 
he  would  see  the  President  and  settle  the  matter  that  day  (Feb.  6). 

This  as  you  will  see  disarranges  all  my  previous  arrangements, 
and  devolves  upon  me  the  necessity  of  revoking  my  orders  to  you  to 
proceed  with  the  agents,  to  organize  the  loyal  Indians  in  your  Superin- 
tendency  into  companies  preparatory  to  their  being  mustered  into  the 
service  by  Gen.  Hunter.  I  have  now  to  advise  that  you  explain  fully 
to  the  Chiefs  that  no  authority  has  yet  been  received  from  Washington 
authorizing  their  admission  into  the  army  of  the  United  States;  but  I 
would,  at  the  same  time  advise  that  you  proceed  to  ascertain  what  num- 
ber are  able  and  willing  to  join  our  army,  and  that  you  so  far  prepare 
them  for  the  service  as  you  can  consistently  do,  without  committing 
the  Government  to  accept  them,  as  I  still  hope  for  the  power  to  get 
these  refugees  if  no  others,  into  the  service,  it  being  one,  and  as  I 
think,  the  best  means  of  providing  for  their  necessities.  .  .-DOLE  to 
Coffin,  February  n,  1862  [Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  p.  448]. 

574  Coffin  had  not  been  written  to,  Jan.   6,  because  the  original  plan  did 
not  contemplate  the  employment  of  southern  Indians.     Not  until   he  heard  of 
their  presence,  as   refugees  in  Kansas,  did  Dole  include  them  in   his  list  of 
possible  soldiers. 

575  Superintendent  Branch  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  opposi- 
tion that  grew  up  in  Washington   after  Dole's  departure ;  for  he   was  there 
the  last  days  of  the  month.     Lane  asked  for  his  immediate  return  to  the  west 
[Mix  to  Lane,  January  27,  1862,  Indian  Office,  Letter  Book,  no.  67,  p.  293]. 


280     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

instructions,  for  the  good  of  the  service  as  a  whole  to  be 
promoted.  It  was  thought  best,  therefore,  to  establish 
the  Trans-Mississippi  District  of  Department  No.  2576 
and  to  place  in  command  of  it,  Major-general  Earl  Van 
Dorn.  The  district  was  to  comprise  all  of  Louisiana 
north  of  the  Red  River,  all  of  Indian  Territory  proper, 
all  of  Arkansas,  and  all  of  Missouri  west  of  the  St. 
Francis.  Wise  in  the  main,  as  the  scheme  for  consoli- 
dation unquestionably  was,  it  had  its  weak  points.  The 
unrestricted  inclusion  of  Indian  Territory  was  decided- 
ly a  violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  Pike  treaties,  if  not  of 
the  actual  letter.  Under  the  conditions  of  their  alli- 
ance with  the  Confederacy,  the  Indian  nations  were  not 
obliged  to  render  service  outside  of  the  limits  of  their 
own  country;  but  the  Confederacy  was  obliged,  inde- 
pendent of  any  departmental  reorganization  or  regula- 
tions, to  furnish  them  protection. 

Almost  the  first  thing  that  Van  Dorn  did,  after  as- 
suming command  of  the  new  military  district,  was  to 
write,5"  from  his  headquarters  at  Jacksonport  in  east- 
ern Arkansas,  to  Price,  advising  him  that  Pike  would 
shortly  be  ordered  to  take  position  in  southwestern 
Missouri,  say  in  Lawrence  County  near  Mt.  Vernon, 
"with  instructions  to  cooperate  with  you  in  any  emer- 
gency." Van  Dorn  was  then  laboring  under  the  im- 
pression that  Pike's  force  consisted  of  a  majority  of 
white  troops,  three  regiments,  he  thought,  out  of  a 
brigade  of  eight  or  nine  thousand  men,  whereas  there 
was  only  one  white  regiment  in  the  whole  Indian  de- 
partment. Colonel  Cooper  complained578  that  this  lat- 
ter condition  was  the  fact  and  insisted  that  it  was  con- 

576  Special  Orders,  no.  8,  Jan.  10,  1862  [Official  Records,  vol.  viii,  734]. 

577  Van  Dorn  to  Price,  February  7,  1862   [Official  Records,  first  ser.,  vol. 
viii,  749]. 

578  Cooper  to  Pike,  February  10,  1862  [ibid.,  vol.  xiti,  896]. 


FO#T M*CULLOGH 


[From    Office  of  Indian   Affairs'} 


TIL 

OMHE 
UHWERSITY  OF  IUHOIS 


Alliance  with  the  Confederacy  283 

trary  to  the  express  promises  made,  by  authority,579  to 
the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  when  he  had  begun  his  re- 
cruiting work  among  them  the  previous  summer.  Had 
Van  Dorn  only  taken  a  little  trouble  to  inquire  into  the 
real  state  of  affairs  among  the  Indians,  he  would,  in- 
stead of  ordering  Pike  to  bring  the  Indian  regiments 
out  of  Indian  Territory,  have  seen  to  it  that  they  stayed 
at  home  and  that  danger  of  civil  strife  among  the  Cher- 
okees  was  prevented  by  the  presence  of  three  white  reg- 
iments, as  originally  promised.  At  this  particular  time 
as  it  happened,  Pike  was  not  called  upon  to  move  his 
force;  for  the  order  so  to  move  did  not  reach  him  until 
after  the  Federals,  "pursuing  General  Price,  had  in- 
vaded Arkansas."  58° 

It  proved,  however,  to  be  but  a  brief  stay  of  execu- 
tion; for,  as  soon  as  Van  Dorn  learned  that  Price  had 
fallen  back  from  Springfield,  he  resolved581  to  form  a 
junction  with  McCulloch's  division  in  the  Boston 
Mountains  and  himself  take  command  of  all  the  forces 
in  the  field.  He  estimated582  that,  should  Pike  be  able 
to  join  him,  with  Price's  and  McCulloch's  troops  al- 
ready combined,  he  would  have  an  army  of  fully  twen- 
ty-six thousand  men  to  oppose  a  Federal  force  of  be- 
tween thirty-five  and  forty  thousand.  Pike  was  duly 
informed583  of  the  new  arrangement  and  ordered584  to 
"hasten  up  with  all  possible  dispatch  and  in  person 
direct  the  march  of"  his  "command,  including  Stand 
Watie's,  Mclntosh's,  and  Drew's  regiments."  His  men 

579  Walker  to  Cooper,  May  13,  1861    [Official  Records,  first  ser.,   vol.  iii, 
574-575]. 

580  Report  of  Albert  Pike,  dated  Fort  McCulloch,  May  4,  1862  [ibid.,  vol. 
xiii,  819]. 

581  Van    Dorn,   Report  to  Bragg,   March  27,    1862   [Official  Records,  first 
ser.,  vol.  viii,  283]. 

582  Van  Dorn  to  Mackall,  February  27,  1862  [ibid.,  755]. 

583  Maury  to  Pike,  March  3,  1862  [ibid.,  763-764]. 

584  Maury  to  Pike,  March  3,  1862  [ibid.,  764]. 


284     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

were  to  "march  light,  ready  for  immediate  action."585 
The  outcome  of  all  these  preparations  was  the  Battle  of 
Pea  Ridge586  and  that  battle  was  the  consummation,  the 
culminating  point,  in  fact,  of  the  Indian  alliance  with 
the  Southern  Confederacy.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
the  end.  It  happened  just  at  the  time  when  the  Rich- 
mond legislators  were  organizing587  the  great  Arkansas 
and  Red  River  superintendency,588  which  was  intended 
to  embrace  all  the  tribes  with  whom  Albert  Pike  had 
made  his  treaties.  Albert  Pike  retired  from  Pea  Ridge 
to  his  defences  at  Fort  McCulloch,  angry  and  indignant 
that  the  Indians  had  been  taken  out  of  their  own  coun- 
try to  fight  the  white  man's  battles.  His  displeasure 
was  serious;  for  the  Indian  confidence  in  the  Confed- 
eracy depended  almost  wholly  upon  the  promises  and 
the  assurances  of  the  Arkansas  poet. 


585  Maury  to  Drew,  Mclntosh,  and  Stand  Watie,  March  3,  1862   [Official 
Records,  first  ser.,  vol.  viii,  764]. 

586  This  will  be  discussed  fully  in  a  later  volume. 

587  Journal,  vol.  i,  640,  743;  vol.  ii,  19,  20,  51,  52;  vol.  v,  47,  115,  116,  151, 

167,  210. 

588  The  act  was  passed  April  8,  1862  [Confederate  Statutes  at  Large  (edi- 
tion of  1864),  II"25]- 


APPENDIX  A -FORT  SMITH  PAPERS 

Copy  TAHLEQUAH,  January  gth  1857. 

SIR  :  -  Some  time  since  I  received  a  letter  from  you  calling  for  in- 
formation in  reference  to  the  white  intruders  who  were  settling  upon 
the  Cherokee  Neutral  Land.  I  have  been  creditably  (credibly)  in- 
formed that  there  are  several  white  families  living  upon  the  Neutral 
Land,  some  of  them  are  making  improvements,  others  are  in  the  em- 
ployment of  Cherokee  Citizens,  living  on  the  Neutral  Land,  from  the 
best  information  that  I  can  get,  most  of  the  intruders  are  good  citi- 
zens of  the  U-States.  I  have  notified  them  to  leave,  with  the  under- 
standing that  if  they  do  not  leave  by  spring,  they  will  be  removed  by 
the  Military.  My  reason  for  not  removing  them  at  an  earlier  date  is, 
the  weather  is  so  cold  and  disagreeable  that  it  would  be  improper  to 
turn  women  and  children  out  of  doors,  therefore  I  will  not  remove 
them  til  the  winter  breaks  it  maybe  that  the  Military  will  have  to  be 
employed  in  their  removal :  yet  I  shall  make  the  effort  to  remove  them 
peacefully  and  without  the  military  if  possible.  Very  Respectfully, 
Your  ob't,  Svt.  (Signed).  GEO.  BUTLER,  Cherokee  Agent. 

Doct.  C.  W.  Dean,  Sup't.  of  Ind.  Affs. 

Copy  FORT  SMITH,  ARKANSAS,  February  igth,  1859. 

SIR:  I  deem  it  my  duty  as  an  independant  citizen  to  apprize  you, 
as  the  head  of  the  Indian  Bureau,  of  a  recent  transaction  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Indian  Affairs  at  this  place,  and  demand  of  you  the  proper 
action  the  facts  may  impose. 

A  contract  has  been  given  to  an  intimate  friend  and  relation  of 
the  Superintendent,  to  feed  the  Witchita  and  other  Indians  inhabiting 
the  country  between  the  g8th  and  looth  degrees,  West  Longitude,  at 
a  sum  pr  ration,  of  one  third,  perhaps  one  half,  more  than  other  per- 
sons would  have  fed  these  Indians  for;  which  persons  were  denied 
the  privilege  of  contending  for  the  contract,  as  no  puplic  notice  invit- 
ing proposals  was  made,  and  the  contract  was  given  privately. 

I  assert  this  postively,  as  to  the  notice  for  proposals,  and  enclose 
you  a  letter  of  Capt.  J.  H.  Strain,  confirmatory  of  the  fact,  that  he 


286     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

was  willing  to  feed  the  Witchitas,  for  a  sum  far  less  than  the  records 
of  your  Office  must  show  the  government  has  been  pledged  to  pay 
another.  The  character  of  this  gentleman,  who  has  been  for  years 
Sutler  at  Fort  Arbuckle,  if  unknown  to  you,  can  be  avouched  by  the 
U.  S.  Senators  from  this  State. 

The  Seminoles  are  now  fed  under  a  contract  given  in  the  usual 
regular  mode  of  publishing  invitations  for  proposals  and  awarding  the 
contract  to  the  lowest  bidder,  at  the  sum  of  about  seven  cents  pr  ra- 
tion. The  Witchitas  are  encamped  only  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  the 
Seminoles  and  near  the  Texas  and  Chickasaw  lines,  where  corn  and 
beef  are  much  cheaper  and  more  abundant.  In  proof  of  this  I  refer 
you  to  late  contracts  for  these  articles  given  at  Fort  Washita  and  Fort 
Arbuckle  —  the  first  being  near  the  Witchitas,  and  the  other  near  the 
Seminoles.  Captain  Strain  says  he  would  have  fed  the  Witchitas  for 
ten  cents  per  ration,  and  if  proposals  had  been  invited,  the  Contract 
would  have  been  taken  for  a  less  sum. 

There  are  some  seven  hundred  Indians  now  fed,  and  thirteen  cents 
pr  ration  is  the  sum  stated  as  allowed  —  I  believe  it  is  more,  but  the 
Indian  Office  contains  the  proof  of  the  exact  sum.  If  the  Contract 
had  been  given  at  nine  cents  pr  ration,  it  would  have  been  a  saving  of 
twenty  eight  dollars  pr  day,  over  the  price  said  to  be  now  paid,  which 
would  amount  to  eight  hundred  and  forty  dollars  pr  month,  and  ten 
thousand  and  eighty  dollars  a  year.  This  is  surprisingly  large,  for  a 
small  Indian  contract,  and  at  a  time  too  when  the  duty  of  government 
Officers  to  retrench  expenses  is  so  imperiously  demanded. 

I  am  opposed  to  such  favoriteism  under  any  circumstances,  and  par- 
ticularly so,  when  the  recipient  can  lay  no  claim  to  Democratic  sup- 
port. 

I  am  credibly  informed  that  the  number  of  the  Indians  fed  under 
this  contract,  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  that  efforts  are  all  the  time 
made  to  induce  the  Texas  Reserve  Indians  to  claim  relationship  with 
the  Wichitas,  and  come  into  their  camp  and  draw  rations.  One  of 
the  employees  under  this  Contract  makes  this  statement,  and  says  quite 
a  number  have  already  been  induced  so  to  come.  If  the  number  is 
swelled  to  two  thousand,  as  conjectured  here,  the  large  price  now 
paid  will  roll  up  the  sum  thus  disbursed  to  the  Superintendents  fa- 
vorite so  much  that  other  notice  will  be  taken  of  it,  unless  you  find  it 
in  your  power  to  interfere. 

I  am  tired  of  such  conduct  and  such  unfairness  towards  the  gov- 


Fort  Smith  Papers  287 

ernment,  and  now  make  the  charge  distinctly  and  demand  of  you  that 
it  be  stopped. 

Of  course  I  have  no  desire  to  withhold  my  name,  and  can  refer  you 
to  Senators  Sebastian  and  Johnson  for  an  endorsement  of  my  character. 

Please  acknowledge  receipt  of  this.  I  am  most  respectfully,  Your 
Obt.  Servant,  A.  G.  MAYERS. 

Hon.  J.  W.  Denver,  Comr.  Ind.  Affairs, 

Washington  City,  D.  C. 

P.S.  I  may  add  that  I  am  not,  nor  have  I  ever  been  interested  in 
these  sort  of  Contracts,  and  have  no  desire  to  be  interested  in  this 
one.  A.G.M. 

FORT  SMITH  i6th  Feby.  759. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  I5th  inst.  You  were 
correct  in  understanding  me  to  say,  that  I  was  willing  to  feed  the 
Witchita  Indians,  near  Fort  Arbuckle,  at  ten  cents  per  ration. 

Was  the  contract  to  be  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  it  would  go  below 
what  I  said  I  was  willing  to  take  it  at.  Very  Respectfully,  Your  Obt. 
Servant  J.  H.  STRAIN. 

Gen.  A.  G.  Mayers,  Ft.  Smith,  Ark. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR.    OFFICE  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 

May  1 2th  1859. 

SIR,  For  your  information  and  such  action  as  you  may  deem  neces- 
sary, I  transmit  a  copy  of  a  letter,  and  its  enclosures,  addressed  to 
this  Office  by  A.  G.  Mayers  on  the  2ist  ultimo,  and  of  my  reply  of  the 
nth  instant.  Very  respectfully,  Your  Obt.  Servant, 

CHARLES  E.  Mix,  Commissioner,  ad  interim. 
E.  Rector  Esq,  Superintendent  &c, 
Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 

Copy  FORT  SMITH,  ARKANSAS  April  2ist  1859 

CHAS.  E.  Mix,  Esq,  Acting  Comr.  of  Indian  Affairs 

Washington  City  D.  C. 

SIR  :  -  Allow  me  to  ask  of  you  the  favor  to  inform,  officially  wheth- 
er the  funds  provided  by  the  Government  for  the  subsistence  of  the 
Wichita  Indians  has  been  turned  over  to  the  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs  at  this  place  or  any  other  disbursing  offices  of  the  department, 
to  carry  out  the  Contract  made  by  the  Supt.  with  C.  B.  Johnson  for 
subsisting  those  Indians  after  the  facts  reported  by  me  in  regard  to  the 


a88     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

matter,  in  a  letter  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  of  date  the 
i  gth  Feby  59-. 

It  has  been  stated  to  me  that  such  monies  have  been  so  turned  over 
to  the  Superintendent,  and  statement  has  been  contracted,  I  therefore 
wish  to  know  of  you  the  truth  of  the  matter,  and  am  assured  such  in- 
formation will  be  readily  afforded  me, 

I  may  add,  to  strengthen  the  report  of  facts  formerly  made  by  me 
in  regard  to  the  Wichita  Contracts,  that  the  Seminoles,  who  are  sub- 
sisted at  a  sum  less  than  seven  cents  per  ration,  under  contract  given 
after  publication  for  proposals,  are  near  Fort  Arbuckle,  and  the  Wichi- 
tas,  who  are  subsisted  under  private  contract  at  over  thirteen  cents  per 
ration,  are  near  Fort  Washita  and  within  the  Chickasaw  Nation  (much 
of  course  to  the  annoyance  of  the  Chickasaws).  Now  I  ask  a  refer- 
ence to  the  Comparative  Contracts  to  feed  the  two  tribes  on  file  in  your 
office,  with  the  Contract  for  corn  and  beef  given  at  the  two  posts  men- 
tioned to  supply  the  Soldiers,  on  file  in  the  War  Office,  to  convince 
you  that  the  Witchitas  are  fed  at  an  exhorbitant  cost  to  the  Govern- 
ment. 

I  also  herewith  enclose  a  letter  from  Mr.  Dennis  Trammel,  who 
was  the  Contractor  to  feed  the  Seminoles;  stating  that  he  was  willing, 
and  had  so  stated  it  to  the  Supt,  to  feed  the  Wichitas  for  seven  cents 
pr  ration.  For  Mr  Trammel's  veracity  I  can  avouch  and  full  en- 
dorsement can  be  given  of  it  from  others,  if  required ;  as  can  be  done 
for  my  own  character  and  standing  in  this  community.- 

I  intend  to  follow  up  this  matter  to  a  conclusion,  and  in  so  declair- 
ing  must  state  that  I  do  it  without  motive  of  personal  malice  and 
simply  as  an  impartial  Citizen  and  a  supporter  of  the  administration  — 
impelled  to  the  duty  in  view  of  the  universal  acclaim  throughout  the 
Country  for  economy  in  Govt.  expenses  on  account  of  the  depleted 
state  of  the  Treasury,  Otherwise  I  might  have  left  the  unpleasant  af- 
fair to  the  proper  officers  of  the  Government  to  find  out  and  determine 
as  they  might  see  proper, 

Let  me  ask ;  -  Is  it  true  that  the  Supt.  has  received  the  Two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  due  the  Creeks  under  the  treaty  of  1851,  with- 
out an  order  from  that  tribe  to  the  government  to  send  out  the  money 
and  upon  the  Supt's  own  responsibility?- An  early  reply  will  greatly 
oblige  me,  Very  Respectfully  Your  obt.  Svt.  A.  G.  MAYERS. 


Fort  Smith  Papers 


Copy  GREENWOOD  ARKANSAS  April  i8th  1859. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  have  understood  that  you  was  willing  to  feed  the 
Wichataw  Indians  at  the  same  price  that  you  received  from  the  Gov- 
ernment for  feeding  the  Seminole  Indians. 

Please  state  if  I  am  correct  in  so  understanding  your  propositions 
Very  respectfully  Your  Obt.  Servt.  A.  G.  MAYERS 

Mr  Dennis  Trammell,  at  Greenwood  Arks. 

Copy  BACKBARN  Aprial  19.  1859. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  reed  your  note  of  the  18  instant  and  state  that  you 
are  correct,  I  have  stated  that  I  was  willing  to  feed  them  at  the  same 
price  7  cents.  I  am  Yours,  &c.  DENNIS  TRAMMELL 

Genl,  A.  G.  Myers  Esq. 

Copy         DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  OFFICE  INDIAN  AFFAIRS 

nth  May  1859. 

SIR:  In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  2ist  Ultimo  I  have  the  honor 
to  state  that  a  portion  of  the  funds  appropriated  by  Congress  towards 
defraying  the  expenses  of  Colonizing  the  Wichita  and  other  Indians 
in  the  western  part  of  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  country,  includ- 
ing their  temporary  subsistance,  has  all  along  been  in  the  hands  of 
Superintendent  Rector,  to  meet  any  necessary  current  expenses  con- 
nected with  said  measure. 

In  regard  to  the  contract  made  with  Mr.  C.  B.  Johnson  by  Super- 
intendent Rector,  for  feeding  the  Witchitas,  it  was  but  a  temporary 
measure  to  meet  an  emergency,  and  was  fully  approved  by  the  late 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  under  subsequent  instructions  Supt. 
Rector,  will  it  is  expected,  at  an  early  day,  make  a  different  arrange- 
ment, for  furnishing  said  Indians  with  such  subsistence  as  must  neces- 
sarily be  supplied  to  them  by  advertising  for  proposals  therefor,  or  by 
causing  it  to  be  purchased  and  issued  to  them  direct  by  an  agent  of 
the  Government,  as  may  be  best  and  most  economical. 

The  money  due  the  Creeks  under  the  Treaty  of  1856,  to  which  you 
refer,  was  placed  in  Superintendent  Rectors  hands  to  be  paid  to  them, 
in  compliance  with  the  formal  and  urgent  demand  of  the  Council  of 
the  tribe.  Very  respectfully  Your  Obt  Servant 

Signed.     CHAS.  E.  Mix,  Commissioner  ad  interim. 
A.  G.  Mayers  Esq.,  Fort  Smith  Arks. 


290     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  OFFICE  OF  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 

March  14,  1860. 

SIR:  Robert  J.  Cowart,  Esq.  of  Georgia,  has  been  appointed  by 
the  President,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  Agent 
of  the  Cherokee  Indians  in  place  of  George  Butler,  Esq.  whose  com- 
mission has  expired. 

He  has  been  directed  to  report  himself  to  you  at  Fort  Smith  for 
instructions,  when  you  will  assign  him  to  duty.  His  compensation 
will  be  at  the  rate  of  $1500  per  annum,  and  the  time  of  its  commence- 
ment will  be  fixed  upon  when  he  arrives  in  this  City,  which  he  has 
been  directed  to  take  in  his  route  to  Fort  Smith.  The  sufficiency  of 
his  bond  will  also  be  made  the  subject  of  examination  at  this  Office 
upon  his  arrival. 

A  letter  has  been  written  to  Mr  Butler  notifying  him  of  the  ap- 
pointment, and  directing  him  to  make  up  and  forward  his  accounts 
immediately,  and  to  turn  over  to  Mr.  Cowart  all  moneys,  papers,  and 
other  property  in  his  hands  upon  application.  Very  respectfully,  Your 
obedient  servant,  A.  B.  GREENWOOD,  Commissioner. 

Elias  Rector,  Esq.,  Superintendent,  &c.,  Present. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  OFFICE  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 

April  21,  1860. 

SIR  :  From  information  that  has  been  received  at  this  Office  in  re- 
gard to  certain  persons,  who  are  residing  within  the  limits  of  the 
Cherokee  nation,  it  is  found  necessary  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
propriety  of  seeing  that  the  provisions  of  the  Intercourse  law  are  ob- 
served with  respect  to  them.  By  reference  to  the  law,  you  will  find 
that  no  person  can  reside  within  the  limits  of  the  country  of  any  In- 
dian nation  or  tribe  without  permission,  and  such  must  be  obtained 
under  certain  prescribed  rules;  and  even  after  permission  is  given,  if 
the  party  is  found  abusing  the  privilege  by  acting  in  violation  of  any 
of  the  provisions  of  law,  or  is  found  unfit  to  reside  in  the  country 
whether  from  example,  from  the  want  of  moral  character,  from  his 
interference  with  the  institutions  of  the  tribe,  from  seditious  language 
and  teachings,  or  from  any  cause  tending  to  disturb  the  peace  and 
quiet  of  the  tribe,  or  tending  to  alienate  their  attachment  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs, 
and  Indian  Agents  have  authority  to  remove  him;  and  the  President 
is  authorized  to  direct  the  Military  force  to  be  employed  in  such  re- 
moval. 


Fort  Smith  Papers  291 

The  necessity  for  such  power,  and  for  greater  facility  in  carrying 
the  same  into  execution,  was  so  apparent,  that  at  the  first  session  of 
the  35th  Congress  it  was  found  advisable  to  legislate  further  in  the 
matter;  and  the  3rd  Section  of  the  Indian  appropriation  bill  was  ac- 
cordingly passed,  which  is,  "That  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  required,  with  the  approval  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  remove  from  any  tribal  reservation 
any  person  found  therein  without  authority  of  law,  or  whose  presence 
within  the  limits  of  the  reservation  may,  in  his  judgment,  be  detrimen- 
tal to  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  to  employ  for  the  pur- 
pose such  force  as  may  be  necessary  to  enable  the  agent  to  effect  the 
removal  of  such  person  or  persons." 

As  I  remarked  before,  I  am  induced  to  believe  that  the  Cherokees 
have  just  cause  of  complaint  from  the  presence  of  some  such  persons 
within  their  limits,  —  and  it  is  my  desire  that  you  call  the  attention  of 
the  newly  appointed  Agent  particularly  to  the  subject.  He  should 
look  not  only  to  those  cases  which  are  there  originally  without  au- 
thority of  law,  but  also  to  those  who,  with  ostensibly  worthy  purposes, 
have  received  permission,  and  falsified  their  pretensions.  This  is  a 
delicate  trust,  and  should  be  executed  with  great  caution  and  discre- 
tion, and  you  cannot  enjoin  upon  the  agent  too  much  care  and  circum- 
spection for  although  I  shall  examine  carefully  the  grounds  of  his 
charges,  yet  I  must  be  guided  in  a  great  measure  by  his  opinion,  and 
am  determined  that  the  law  shall  be  enforced. 

You  will  therefore,  so  soon  as  Mr.  Cowart  shall  report  to  }rou  for 
duty,  communicate  to  him  the  contents  of  this  letter,  and  require  him 
to  investigate,  as  quietly  as  possible,  the  cases  of  all  white  persons 
found  within  the  limits  of  his  agency,  and  report  to  me,  through  you, 
such  as  are  there  without  the  authority  of  law,  and  such  as  may  be  un- 
worthy longer  to  remain  although  they  may  have  originally  had  per- 
mission to  enter  the  country.  Very  respectfully,  Your  Obt,  Sevt. 

A.  B.  GREENWOOD,  Commissioner. 
Elias  Rector,  Esq. ;  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR,  OFFICE  INDIAN  AFFAIRS, 

June  4th  1860. 

SIR  :  The  attention  of  this  office  has  been  called  to  an  article  which 
appeared  in  the  Fort  Smith  Times  (which  is  herewith  enclosed)  in 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  a  secret  organization  has  been  formed  in  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  which  is  rapidly  increasing.  The  existence  of  such 


292     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

an  organization,  the  objects  of  which  cannot  be  misunderstood,  has 
caused  in  my  mind  the  greatest  apprehension  as  to  the  future  peace 
and  quiet  of  that  country;  and,  if  permitted  to  mature  its  plans,  will 
be  productive  of  the  worst  results.  The  article  alluded  to  points  to 
the  Jones'  as  being  the  leaders  in  this  movement,  and  who  have  been 
permitted  for  a  long  time  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  that  Nation.  It 
is  believed  that  the  ultimate  object  of  this  organization  is  to  interfere 
with  the  institutions  of  that  people,  and  that  its  influences  will  extend 
to  other  tribes  upon  the  Western  border  of  Arkansas. 

This  scheme  must  be  broken  up:  for  if  it  is  permitted  to  ripen, 
that  country  will,  sooner  or  later,  be  drenched  in  blood.  You  are 
aware  that  there  is  a  large  slave  property  in  the  Cherokee  country, 
and  if  any  steps  are  taken  by  which  such  property  will  be  rendered  un- 
safe, internal  war  will  be  the  inevitable  result,  in  which  the  people  of 
the  bordering  state  will  be  involved.  The  relations  which  the  Editor 
of  the  Times  bears  to  the  Cherokees  enables  him  to  procure  reliable 
information  from  that  section  which  is  not  accessible  to  all  and  hence 
the  greater  credit  is  due  to  his  published  statements  in  relation  to  the 
affairs  of  that  people.  This  office  is  also  in  possession  of  private  ad- 
vices from  that  country,  which  fully  corroborates  the  statements  in  the 
article  referred  to.  This  organization  and  its  purposes  are  no  longer 
left  to  mere  conjecture.  In  view  of  these  facts  I  have  to  direct  that 
in  addition  to  the  instructions  contained  in  a  letter  from  this  office,  of 
the  2  ist  of  April  last,  the  contents  of  which  you  were  instructed  to 
communicate  to  Agent  Cowart,  you  will  direct  him  immediately  on 
his  arrival  at  his  Agency  to  cautiously,  institute  inquiry  as  to  the  ex- 
istence of  this  secret  organization,  its  objects  and  purposes;  who  are 
the  counsellors  and  advisers  of  this  movement,  and  proceed  at  once  to 
break  it  up;  and,  if  in  his  investigation  he  should  be  satisfied  that  any 
white  persons  residing  in  the  Nation  are  in  any  way  connected  with 
this  organization  he  will  notify  such  person  or  persons  forthwith  to 
leave  the  Nation.  You  will  inform  Agent  Cowart  that  the  Secretary 
of  War  will  be  requested  to  place  such  force  at  his  disposal  as  may  be 
necessary  to  enforce  any  order  he  may  deem  it  his  duty  to  make.  You 
will  direct  him  also  to  spare  neither  time  or  trouble  in  carrying  out 
these  instructions,  and  that  he  report  direct  to  this  office,  advising  you 
in  the  meantime  of  his  action. 

A  copy  of  this  letter  has  been  sent  direct  to  Agent  Cowart.  Yours 
Respectfully,  A.  B.  GREENWOOD,  Commissioner. 

Elias  Rector,  Esq.,  Supt:  Ind.  Affairs: 

Fort  Smith,  Arkansas 


Fort  Smith  Papers  293 

TROUBLE  BREWING  AMONG  THE  CHEROKEES 
WHAT  DOES  IT  MEAN? 

The  Fort  Smith  (Ark.)  Times  says:  We  noticed  a  week  or  two 
ago  that  there  was  a  secret  organization  going  on  in  the  Cherokee  Na- 
tion, and  that  it  was  among  the  full-blood  Indians  alone.  We  are 
informed  by  good  authority  that  the  organization  is  growing  and  ex- 
tending daily,  and  that  no  half  or  mixed  blood  Indian  is  taken  into 
this  secret  organization.  The  strictest  secrecy  is  observed,  and  it  is 
death,  by  the  order,  to  divulge  the  object  of  the  Society.  They  hold 
meetings  in  the  thickets,  and  in  every  secret  place,  to  initiate  members. 
We  are  told  that  the  mixed-bloods  are  becoming  alarmed,  and  every 
attempt  to  find  out  the  object  of  this  secret  cabal  has  thus  far  proved 
abortive.  The  Joneses  are  said  to  be  the  leaders  in  the  work,  and 
what  these  things  are  tending  to,  no  one  can  predict.  We  fear  that 
something  horrible  is  to  be  enacted  on  the  frontier,  and  that  this  secret 
work  will  not  stop  among  the  Cherokees,  but  will  extend  to  other 
tribes  on  this  frontier.  The  Government  should  examine  into  this 
matter,  before  it  becomes  too  formidable. 

CHEROKEE  AGENCY.  Near  Tahleguah  C.N. 
HON.  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs 

Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

Sir:     Yours  of  the  I5th  Inst,  is  before  me,  contents  closely  noted. 

In  reply  I  have  to  state,  that  I  am  in  receipt  of  the  Instructions 
of  which  you  write,  from  the  Indian  Ag1 

And  I  now  hasten  to  Lay  before  you  the  result  of  my  investiga- 
tions, thus  far  in  this  nation, 

Soon  after  I  entered  the  nation  before  I  had  proceeded  say  half 
days  travel,  I  was  met  with  complaints  against  certain  persons  (white 
men)  who  it  was  said  had  been  enterf earing  with  the  Institution  of 
Slavery  -  to  which  I  invariably  replied  to  the  complainants,  bring 
me  the  charges  -  or  the  witnesses  -  by  whome  I  can  substantiate  them, 
and  my  duty,  will  be  as  pleasent,  as  promptly  fulfilled  -  none  came, 

In  Tahlequah  in  time  of  Circuit  Court,  I  made  a  short  speach  to 
the  Citizens,  in  which  I  told  them,  that  if  they,  or  any  of  them,  knew 
any  thing  on  the  subject  -  to  report  forthwith  to  me,-  and  none  have 
reported  and  while  I  have  heard  much  said  on  the  subject  —  I  have  not 
as  yet  been  able  to  get  any  thing  that  would  do  for  proof  -  that  would 
be  reliable.  And  while  I  make  the  above  statement  I  do  not  enter- 


294     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

tain  a  doubt,  of  the  truth  of  the  charges  -  And  being  satisfied  of  the 
truth  of  those  charges  - 1  shall  use  evry  effort  to  establish  them, 

As  regards  those  Secret  Societies,  I  firmly  believe,  that  they  are 
gotten  up  with  a  view  to  aid  in  coveying  those  abolition  plans  of 
operation,  to  a  successful  termination  Allow  me  to  ?ay  -  that  I 
shall  continue  to  travel  in  and  through  the  Nation  (unless  differently 
instructed)  until  I  establish  those  charges  if  it  can  possible  be  done, 

Mean  while,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  recive  Instructions  and  advice 
from  you  on  the  subject,  and  will  keep  you  advised  of  my  movements, 
I  am  Sir  with  much  respect,  your  obt  Servt, 

ROBT.  J.  COWART,  U.  S.  Cherokee  Agent 

Private 

The  Second  Chief  is  about  to  call  the  Council  together  to  take  into 
consideration  the  conduct  of  those  white  men  who  are  interfearing 
with  the  institutions  of  Slavery  -  and  to  devise  means  by  which  those 
Secret  Societies  may  be  put  down,  and  when  the  Council  meets,  I 
think  we  can  remidy  all  those  evials  - 

I  find  there  are  many  white  men  in  the  nation  without  permits - 
and  one  or  two  English  men,  these  I  shall  order  to  leave  the  nation 
Instanter,  R.  J.  COWART 

TAHLEQUAH  C.  N.  July  9th  1860 

DEAR  MAJ  RECTOR,  When  I  reached  home  I  found  that  Hon. 
A.  B.  Greenwood  had  been  here,  stayed  two  days,  and  a  half  &  left. 
I  am  told  that  he  expressed  a  verry  strong  desire  to  see  me  but  had 
not  time  to  remain  here  or  go  to  Fort  Smith. 

He  has  brought  his  family  home  to  Ark.  to  remain  as  he  writes 
me- 

I  wish  now  verry  much  to  see  you  and  Col.  Pulliam,  of  which  I 
have  written  him,  I  would  go  forthwith  to  see  Greenwood  but  sup- 
pose from  what  he  wroat  me  that  he  had  left,  or  will  have  done  so 
before  I  could  get  there.  I  am  with  much  respect,  your  friend 

R.  J.  COWART 
Hon.  Elias  Rector  Fort  Smith,  Ark  Tahlequah  C.N. 

CHEROKEE  AGENCY.    TAHLEQUAH  C.  N.  August  i5th  1860 
HON.  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Sup*  Ind  Affairs  Fort  Smith,  Arks. 

Dear  Sir :     Tomorrow  morning  I  set  out,  to  the  Neutral  Lands  — 


Fort  Smith  Papers  295 

and  am  advised  to  take  a  few  men  with  me  which  I  propos  doing, 
It  may  be  truely  said,  that,  this  Nation  is  in  the  midest  of  a  crises. 
I  shall  be  compelled  to  call  for  Military  aid  —  which  I  expect  to 

do  forthwith  - 

Immediatly  upon  my  return  from  the  Neutral  Lands  - 1  expect 

to  go  to  Fort  Smith  - 

Please  Remember  me  kindly  to  my  friend  Col  Pulliam  - 
I  am  very  kindly  your  obt  Servt.  R.  J.  Cow  ART 

Tahlequah  C.  N. 

OFFICE  U.S.  NEOSHO  AGENCY,  QUAPAW  NATION 

Augt  24th  1860 

SIR:  By  refference  to  my  letter  of  July  nth  you  will  find  that  I 
according  to  your  instructions,  gave  all  the  intruders  upon  the  Osage 
reservation  notice  to  leave  forthwith,  or  that  they  would  be  removed 
by  Military  force.  That  notice  was  dated  May  22nd  1860,  &  the 
intruders  are  still  there,  and  I  have  most  respectfully  now  to  suggest, 
that  in  view  of  the  situation  of  the  Neutral  land  of  the  Cherokees  and 
the  reserve  of  the  Osages,  they,  laying  adjoining  each  other,  and  the 
great  number  of  squatters  therein,  I  would  advise  that  at  least  two 
companies  of  U.  S.  Dragoons  or  Cavalry  be  called  for,  both  to  act 
together  in  the  removal  of  the  intruders  from  the  Osage  and  Neutral 
lands  - 

I  learn  that  Major  Cowart  expects  to  be  at  your  office  in  a  few 
days,  in  order  to  make  a  Requisition  upon  the  Commanding  Officer 
of  Fort  Caleb  for  Troops  to  remove  the  intruders  from  the  Neutral 
land,  and  enclosed  you  will  find  one  from  me,  which  if  approved  by 
you,  please  forward  by  the  same  express,  in  order  that  the  Troops 
may  march  together,  as  their  destination  is  about  the  same  - 

I  would  also  say  that  in  my  opinion,  that  in  order  that  the  removal 
should  avail  anything  that  all  their  improvements  should  be  destroyed 
by  the  Troops  as  they  progress - 

Your  instructions  are  requested  in  all  this  matter.  Very  Re- 
spectfully Your  Obt  Svt  ANDREW  J.  DORN,  U.S.  Neosho  Agnt 
Major  Elias  Rector,  Supt  Indian  Affairs 

Fort  Smith  Arkansas. 

N.B.  Please  forward  the  enclosed  letter  directed  to  Capt  W.  L. 
Cabell  U.S.A.  and  much  oblige  yours  truly  A.J.D. 


296     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

EVANSVILLE,  ARKS  Sept  6th/6o 

FRIEND,  THAD  ...  I  wish  you  woold  come  up  in  this  part 
of  the  country.  I  am  going  to  start  to  Campmeeting  next  Saturday 
at  Cane  Hill  there  was  a  big  Camp  meeting  a  going  on  when  I  came 
here  in  the  nation  it  was  about  five  miles  west  of  this  place.  I  did 
not  go  as  I  was  busy  fixing  up  to  work  tho  if  I  dont  have  any  bad 
luck  I  think  I  will  have  a  good  time  at  Cane  Hill 
I  think  business  will  be  pretty  good  here  from  the  prospects  I  think 
I  will  spend  a  couple  months  at  Tahlequah  this  fall.  I  want  to 
attend  the  next  council  there  which  will  begin  in  Oct.  .  .  .  etc. 
Remain  your  Friend  JNO.  C.  DICKENSON 

Mark,,  T,,  Tatum,  Greenwood,  Arks 

TAHLEQUAH  CHEROKEE  NATION,  September  8th,  1860. 
HON.  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Supt.  Indian  Affairs,  Fort  Smith,  Arks. 

Dear  Sir,  Enclosed  please  find  Copy  of  letter  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  to  Hon.  A.  B.  Greenwood  - 

Unofficial  WAR  DEPARTMENT  June  i/j-th  1860, 

DEAR  SIR-  In  answer  to  your  note  of  the  nth  Inst  in  regard  to 
trouble  among  the  Cherokees,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  orders  have 
been  given  to  the  Commander  of  Fort-Cobb,  as  suggested,  Yours 
&c,  Signed  JOHN  B.  FLOYD. 

HON.  A.  B.  GREENWOOD,  Commr.-  It  seems  from  the  above  that 
orders  have  been  given  the  Commander  at  Fort  Cobb  to  furnish  me 
Troops  to  remove  intruders  from  this  Nation.  I  have  not  heard 
any  thing  from  Washington  since  I  left  Fort  Smith. 
I  would  be  glad  to  have  the  Troops  as  early  as  convenient,  as  I  feel 
that  I  can  do  but  little  more  without  them. 

I  this  day  sent  a  Notice  to  John,  B.  Jones  to  leave  the  Nation 
by  the  25th  Inst.- which  I  trust  he  will  do.  I  am  writing  to  the 
Department  today  and  giving  the  facts  in  reference  to  this  Nation  - 
I  have  asked  for  contingent  funds,  as  the  requirements  of  the  Depart- 
ment, are,  that  money  appropriated  for  one  purpose,  should  not  be 
used  for  another. 

Please  give  me  the  benefit  of  any  information,  you  have  or  may 
get  on  the  subject  of  Troops.  I  am  as  ever  your  friend  And  obedient 
Servt.  R.  J.  Cow  ART 

Tahlequah  C,  N, 


Fort  Smith  Papers  297 

TAHLEQUAH  CHEROKEE  NATION,  Oct  2gth  1860 
COL.  PULLIAM, 

My  Dear  friend,  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  forward  the  enclosed 
Dispatch  to  Hon  A.  B.  Greenwood  Washington  D.C.  Please  Con- 
sult Capt.  Sturgeons,  you  may,  find  it  necessary,  to  change  it,  if  so, 
please  make  any  alteration,  you  and  the  Capt  may,  think  best. 

I  expect  to  visit  Fort  Smith  in  a  few  days  —  when  I  hope  to  settle 
up  my  accounts,  and  spend  some  time  with  you  - 1  [illegible]  say 
pleasantly. 

I  Learned  from  Capt  ,  your  Recent  affliction.  Please  al- 
low me  to  tender  to  you  and  Especially  to  Mrs.  Pulliam  my  heart 
felt  Simpathy. 

Write  me  by  the  barer  all  the  News,  I  send  written  to  Maj. 
Rector  for  two  hundred  Dollars,  please  see  that  the  matter  is  ar- 
ranged. I  am  very  kindly  yours,  R.  J.  Cow  ART 

Tahlequah  C.  N. 
Col  R.  P.  Pulliam,  Fort  Smith  Ark. 

FORT  SMITH  A.R.K.  Oct  sist  1860. 
HON.  A.  B.  GREENWOOD  Com.  Ind.  Affairs,  Washington  D.C. 

Intruders  Removed  from  Neutral  land  -  much  desire  to  confer 
with  you  and  [illegible]  in  person  with  Capt  Sturgeons  who  com- 
manded Troops.  R.  J.  COWART,  U.S.  Cherokee  Agent 

SIR:  I  have  received  reliable  information  that  Forts  Washita, 
Arbuckle,  and  Cobb,  all  in  the  Choctaw  &  Chickasaw  Nations,  and 
recently  abandoned  by  Federal  troops,  are  now  in  possession  of  Texas 
State  troops,  and  that  Texas  is  now  urging  at  Montgomery,  that  the 
Wichita  Indians  and  bands  affiliated  with  them,  occupying  the  district 
of  Country  between  the  98  and  100  degrees  west  longitude  &  between 
Red  River  &  Canadian  leased  by  the  United  States  from  the  Choctaws 
&  Chickasaws,  for  the  purpose  of  Locating  said  Indians  are  within  the 
Jurisdiction  of  this,  the  Southern  Superintendency,  and  by  an  exam- 
ination of  the  treaty  of  1855  made  between  the  U.  S  and  the  Choc- 
taws  &  Chickasaws,  you  cannot  fail  to  see  the  impropriety  of  the 
Indians  occupying  said  district  being  attached  to  the  Jurisdiction  of 
Texas,  unless  she  also  extends  her  Jurisdiction  over  the  Choctaws 
and  Chickasaws.- Texas  has  tried  on  several  occasions  heretofore  to 
have  those  Indians  in  the  Leased  district  placed  under  her  jurisdic- 


298     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

tion,  but  the  Indians  regard  her  as  their  ancient,  and  present  enemy, 
and  will  never  consent  to  such  arrangement, 

I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  the  subject 
that  you  may,  if  you  think  it  expedient,  lay  it  before  your  Honorable 
body  for  such  action  as  it  may  think  proper  in  the  premises.  Very 
Respectfully  Your  obt  Servt  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Supt.  Ind  Affairs. 
Hon  David  Walker,  President  Arks.  State  Convention. 

CHEROKEE  AGENCY,  May  the  i5th  1861 
To  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 

Fort  Smith  Arks. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  of  making  the  following  report  have  this 
day  taken  into  my  possession  as  Agent  for  the  Cherokee  Indians,  the 
following  property  as  left  by  late  Agent  R.  J.  Corvort  (gone)  Dwell- 
ing house  Kitchen  and  other  out  houses  one  office,  houses  all  in  bad 
repair  one  farm  belonging  to  the  Agency,  in  bad  repair  one  table 
three  desks  and  papers  all  in  very  bad  condition  one  box  containing 
old  papers  almost  distroyed  by  rats  one  letter  press  and  Books  one 
Rule  one  Inkstand  and  letter  Stamp  one  chair  one  Iron  Safe.  I  also 
have  in  my  possession  14  Bounty  Land  Warrants  received  by  me  from 
you  at  office  of  Superintendency  left  by  R.  J.  Corvort  late  Agent  and 
receipted  for  by  me  to  Superintendant  the  Book  on  Treaties  as  re- 
ported to  of  been,  left  by  R.  J.  Corvort  in  office  not  found  by  me. 
Yours  Respectifully  JOHN  CRAWFORD,  U.S.  Agent  for  Cherokees 
Elias  Rector,  Superintendant  Indian  Affairs. 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.D.,  June  30-1861 

SIR,  Enclosed  herewith  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  my  quar- 
terly return,  for  the  second  quarter  of  the  current  year,  and  with  it 
my  operations  as  a  Federal  Officer  will  cease. 

The  seizure  of  the  mules,  wagon  etc.  by  Gen1  Burrow,  rendered  it 
necessary  in  my  judgment,  to  issue  at  once  to  the  Indians  all  the  public 
property,  moneys  and  effects  in  my  hands,  intended  for  their  use  and 
benefit  by  the  original  U.  S.  Government ;  believing  as  I  do,  that  the 
moneys  and  other  means  which  I  have  held  in  trust  for  them,  would 
be  as  liable  to  seizure  as  the  mules  and  wagon  were,  and  result  in  a 
loss :  the  losses  sustained  by  them  on  the  Arkansas  River  and  at  Fort 
Smith  by  fire  of  very  many  of  their  goods,  cause  them  to  be  in  much 
need  of  the  goods  which  I  have  issued,  more  particularly  as  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  arrangements  by  which  they  may  expect  supplies  dur- 


Fort  Smith  Papers  299 

ing  the  present  year.  The  sudden  withdrawal  of  the  troops  spread 
alarm  and  disquiet  through  the  different  settlements  or  encampments, 
many  of  them  fled  from  the  L.D.  with  a  hope  elsewhere  to  find 
security  and  protection,  the  remainder  would  have  followed,  but  for 
the  issue  of  goods  which  I  made  them,  and  assurances  that  they  would 
not  be  molested. 

With  these  remarks  submitted,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  Very 
Respectfully  Your  Ob't  Srv't,  M.  LEEPER,  Ind.  Agt. 

Major  Elias  Rector,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs 

Fort  Smith,  Arks. 

ESTIMATE  OF  FUNDS  REQUIRED  IN  THE  OFFICE  OF 

SUPERINTENDENT  INDIAN  AFFAIRS  ARKANSAS 

SUPURENTENDENCY. 

For  Salary  of  Superintendent,  for  l/z  year  of  1861.  which 

includes  3  &  4th  qrs.  at  $2 .000 -per  Anum     .             .  $1000.00 

Pay  of  Clerk  l/2  year  3  &  4th  qrs.  at  $1.500-      .             .  750.00 

"     "  Interpreter      "               "    "       400-         .             .  200.00 

'  Traveling  expences.     Contingences  of  office  &c     .  500.00 


$2.450.00 
Office  rent  for  l/2  year         ....         200.00 


$2.65000 

ESTIMATE  OF  FUNDS  NECESSARY  FOR  DISBURSMENT 
TO  SEMINOLE  INDIANS  UP  TO  3oTH  DECEMBER  1861 
AS  PROVIDED  FOR  BY  TREATY  OF  ;TH  AUGUST  1856 

To  provide  for  the  Support  of  Schools  for  ten  years  the 
sum  of  $3000 -per  Annun.  from  7th  August,  1856 
to  3Oth  December  1861.  .  ,  .  .  $16.000.00 

For  agricultural  assistance,  from  3Oth  December  1859 

to  3Oth  December  1861.  at  $2000 -per  Annm  .  4.00000 

For  the  Support  of  Smiths  &  Smith  Shops  from  3Oth 
December  1859.  to  3Oth  Deer.  1861.  at  $2.200  per 
Annum  .  .  .  ,  ."  4.400.00 

Interest  on  $500.000  -  invested  at  5  per  Centum  from 

30th  Deer  1860  to  3Oth  Deer  1861.  ,-..  .  25.000.00 

$49.400  oo 


300     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Pay  of  Agent  for  year  1861         .             .             .             .  1.500.00 

"      "  Interpreter  for  year  1861             .           „            .  400.00 

Contingent  expenses  of  Office  ....  300.00 
Provisions  for  Indians  attending  payments  of  annuities  & 

visiting  Agency  on  business     ....  30000 

$2.50000 

Amount  invested  by  Old  U  S  government  for  Seminoles  as  per  treaty 
7th  August  1856  at  5  per  centum.  $500.000  -  This  amount  has  never 
been  invested  in  State  bonds  but  held  by  the  Government. 

ESTIMATE  OF  FUNDS  NECESSARY  FOR  DISBURSMENT 
TO  CREEK  INDIANS  FROM  3oTH  JUNE  TO  3iST  DE- 
CEMBER 1861.  AND  BALANCES  DUE  THEM  BY  THE  OLD 
U.  S.  GOVERNMENT.  UP  TO  3oTH  JUNE  1861. 

Permanent  provisions  for  Blacksmiths     for  y?.  year  1861.  1.680.00 

"    Iron  &  Steel      "  "     "  540.00 

"    Wheelwrights    "  "     "  300.00 

"    Wagon  Makers "  "     "  300.00 
"    Agricultural   assistance   for   ^ 

year             .             .             .  i.ooo.oo 
Interest  on  $200.000  -  at  5  per  Centum,  for  purposes  of 

Education,  from  3Oth  June  1860  to  3Oth  June  1861.  10.000.00 

Interest  on  same  from  3Oth  June  to  3Oth  December  "  5  ooo  oo 
Unexpended  balances  Interest  due  on  same,  up  to  3Oth 

June  1860  which  has  never  been  paid           .             .  15.00000 

$33.82000 

Pay  of  Agent  for  3  &  4  qrs   1861       .  .  .  750.00 

"    Interpreter  3  &  4  qrs  1861     .  .  .  200.00 

Contingent  Expences "       "    "        "  .  .  1 50.00 

Provisions  for  Indians  at  payment  of  Annuities  .  .  150.00 


$35.070.00 


Fort  Smith  Papers  301 

AMOUNT  OF  MONEY  DUE  CREEK  INDIANS  ANNUAL- 
LY UNDER  TREATY  ;TH  AUGUST  1856 

Permanent  Annuity        .             ..            .  .  .  $24500.00 

Permanent  provisions  for  Blacksmiths    .  .  .  3.36000 

"  Iron  &  Steel  .  .  .  54O.OO 

"  Wheelwrights  .  .  60000 

"                  "           "  Wagonmakers  .  .  60000 

Assistance  in  Agriculture.    .  .  .  2.000.00 

Interest  on  $2OO.OO.  at  5  per  centum  for  purposes  of 

Education  .  .  io.ooo.oo 


$41.600.00 

Amounts  due  Creek  Indians  for  amounts 

invested  by  Treaty  7th  August  1856. 

For  purposes  of  Education        .  .        $200000 

Creek  Orphan  fund       .  .  .          200  741 


$400.741 

CREEK  ORPHAN  FUND  INVESTED  AS  FOLLOWS 

In  Bonds  of  State  of  Kentucky  at  5pr  Cent,  .  $1.00000 

"  "  "  "  Missouri  "  5*/2  "  .  28.00000 

"  "  "  "  "  "  6  "  .  28.000.00 

"        "       "       "      "    Tennessee  "  5                             .  20.000.00 

"       "       "      "    Virginia      "  6                           .  7380000 

United  States  "6          "                 .  49  941  oo 


$200.741.00 

NORTH  FORK  OF  CANADIAN  RIVER,  5th  July  1861 
SIR:     On  receipt  of  this  you  will  please  effect  a  continuance,  on 
behalf  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  with  Mr.  Charles  B. 
Johnson  of  Fort  Smith,  of  the  contract  existing  up  to  3Oth  June  last 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  himself,  for  feeding  the 
Wichitas,  Caddoes,  and  other  kindred  and  other  bands  of  Indians 
now  settled  in  the  country  leased  from  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws. 
If  no  more  favorable  terms  can  be  effected,  you  are  authorized  to 
adopt  those  of  the  former  contract,  with  its  conditions  and  stipula- 
tions in  all  respects. 

You  will  provide  that  the  contract  shall  end,  at  the  pleasure  of  the 


302     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  on  the  3ist  day  of  December  1861, 
and  not  sooner;  and  that  it  shall  be  at  his  option  to  continue  it  for 
such  further  term  as  he  may  please,  upon  the  same  terms  in  all 
respects. 

You  will  provide  that  the  contract  shall  relate  to,  and  take  effect 
as  of  the  first  day  of  July  1861 :  and  you  will  receive  bond,  in  form 
used  by  the  United  States,  but  to  the  Confederate  States,  with  suffi- 
cient sureties,  and  in  such  sum  as  you  may  consider  sufficient  to  en- 
sure faithful  performance.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Commissioner  of  the  Conf. 
States  to  Indian  Tribes  West  of  Arkansas. 
Elias  Rector  Esq,  Superintendent  Ind.  Affairs, 

Arkansas  Superintendency. 

Agreement  made  and  entered  into,  this  I4th  day  of  August  1861, 
at  the  Wichita  Agency,  between  Albert  Pike,  Commissioner  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America  to  the  Indians  west  of  Arkansas,  of 
the  one  part,  and  Charles  B.  Johnson  of  the  County  of  Sebastian  and 
State  of  Arkansas,  of  the  other  part. 

This  agreement  witnesseth,  that  the  said  Albert  Pike,  Commis- 
sioner as  aforesaid,  for  and  on  behalf  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America  and  the  said  Charles  B.  Johnson,  his  heirs  executors  and 
administrators,  have  covenanted  and  agreed,  and  by  these  presents  do 
covenant  mutually  and  agree  to  and  with  each  other  as  follows  to  wit : 

That  the  said  Charles  B.  Johnson,  his  heirs,  executors  and  admin- 
istrators, shall  and  will  supply  and  issue  or  cause  to  be  issued  and 
supplied  at  such  times  and  places  in  the  Leased  District  west  of  the 
98th  degree  of  west  longitude  as  the  Wichita  Agent  may  direct,  daily 
rations  to  the  several  Tribes  and  Bands  of  Comanches,  Wichitas  and 
other  Indians  that  now  are  or  may  hereafter  during  the  continuance 
of  the  present  contract  be  settled  in  the  said  Leased  District,  for  and 
during  the  term  of  one  full  year,  commencing  with  the  sixteenth  day 
of  August  instant,  at  the  price  of  sixteen  cents  for  each  complete 
ration  issued  as  aforesaid:  which  rations  shall  be  issued,  one  for  each 
individual  in  all  of  said  Tribes  and  Bands  and  shall  consist  of  one 
pound  of  fresh  beef  or  fresh  pork,  and  three  quarters  of  a  quart  of 
corn  or  corn  meal  or  one  pound  of  flour  to  every  ration,  with  four 
quarts  of  salt,  three  pounds  of  coffee,  six  pounds  of  sugar,  two  quarts 
of  vinegar,  one  and  a  half  pounds  of  tallow  and  three  pounds  of  soap 
to  every  hundred  rations. 

Payment  shall  be  made  quarterly  for  the  rations  furnished  under 


Fort  Smith  Papers  303 

this  contract,  but  in  the  event  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
being  without  funds  for  such  purposes,  the  payment  to  be  made  as 
soon  thereafter  as  funds  are  provided  for  such  purposes. 

This  contract  may  be  terminated  in  whole  or  in  any  part  at  any 
time  by  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  upon  equitable  terms 
and  conditions  whenever  it  shall  be  deemed  expedient  to  do  so  upon 
giving  thirty  days'  notice  of  such  intention. 

Witness  our  hands  and  seals  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 
Signed  and  Sealed  in  triplicate 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Commissioner  of  the  Confederate  States 

Signed  and  Sealed  in  our  presence. 

WM  QUESENBURY  CHARLES.    B.   JOHNSON. 

W  WARREN  JOHNSON 

NORTH  FORK  OF  THE  CANADIAN  RIVER,  5th  July  1861 

SIR:  I  have  sent  a  Special  Messenger  to  the  Wichita  and  other 
Indians  on  the  Reserve  in  the  Country  leased  from  the  Choctaws 
and  Chickasaws,  requesting  Black  Beaver,  and  other  Captains  and 
Chiefs  to  meet  me  at  the  Seminole  Agency  on  the  22nd  instant,  in 
order  to  hear  a  talk  from  me  and  enter  into  a  Treaty.  If  they  should 
not  do  so,  I  shall  go  from  the  Seminole  Agency  to  the  Reserve  for 
that  purpose. 

As  it  was  through  your  instrumentality  these  Bands  were  settled 
on  the  Reserve,  and  the  promises  made  them  were  made  through 
you,  and  as  you  are  favorably  known  to  them  for  these  reasons,  and 
as  the  Head  of  the  Superintendency  of  Indian  Affairs  in  which  they 
are  included,  your  presence  and  cooperation  with  me,  in  negotiating 
with  them,  will,  I  am  very  sure,  be  of  great  service. 

I  therefore  request,  that,  if  your  health  and  other  duties  permit, 
you  will  be  present  with  me  at  the  Seminole  Agency  on  the  22nd, 
and  accompany  me,  if  necessary,  to  the  Reserve. 

I  shall  leave  this  place  about  the  Qth,  and  at  furtherst  by  the  loth, 
and  go  round  by  Forts  Washita  and  Arbuckle.  I  shall  be  gratified 
if  you  can  so  time  your  movements  as  to  overtake  me  on  the  way. 

I  wish  also  to  suggest  that  the  presence  of  the  Agent,  Mr.  Leeper, 
will  be  indispensable,  and  to  desire  you  to  direct  him  to  accompany 
you,  that  he  may  as  soon  as  possible  repair  to  his  Agency.  I  have  the 
honor  to  be  With  deep  regards  your  obt  Svt 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Commissioner  of  the  Confederate 

States    to    Indian    Tribes    west    of    Arkansas. 

Elias  Rector,  Esq,  Superintendent  Ind.  Aff.  Arkansas  Superintendency. 


304     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Confederate 

THE  HNFFEB  STATES, 

TO  Elias  Rector 


DR. 


Date. 


Dolls.    Cts 


1861 
August  24 


For  Services  rendered  assisting  Comr. 
Pike  in  making  treaties  with  Seminole, 
Wichita  And  Commanche  Indians  un- 
der orders  so  to  do,  by  Comr.  Pike, 
from  loth  July  to  24th  August  1861 
inclusive  45  days  at  $5.00  pr  day 

For  hire  of  Bugg.  horses  &  driver  for 
same  length  of  time  at  $5 —  per  day 

For  hire  of  wagon  team  &  driver  for 
same  service  &  same  time,  to  Trans- 
port tent  Baggage  provisions  &c.  at 
$5  per  day  .... 

Forrage  for  4  horses  for  same  length  of 
time  and  for  same  service  50  cents  per 
day  each  horse 

Paid  ferrage  Crossing  streams    . 


225 


225 


225 


90 


oo 


oo 


00 


00 


$765 

8 


oo 
oo 


$77300 


Received  at  185     ,  of  ELIAS  RECTOR, 

Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Southern  Superintendency, 

Dollars  in  full  of  this  account 

$ 

(Triplicate.) 

I  CERTIFY,  on  honor,  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just, 
and  that  I  have  actually,  this  day  of  185  , 

paid  the  amount  thereof.  Sup't  Indian  Affairs. 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.  D.  Sept.  i5th  1861 

SIR;  A  considerable  amount  of  intermittent  fever  has  made  its 
appearance  at  this  place,  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  an  unusual 
degree  of  dampness  produced  by  the  most  luxuriant  growth  of  veg- 
etation I  ever  knew,  and  the  recent  heavy  rains  which  have  been 


Fort  Smith  Papers  305 

almost  incessant  for  many  days  past,  it  gives  us  just  cause  of  alarm 
as  we  are  entirely  out  of  medicines  of  almost  every  kind  and  placed 
at  so  remote  a  distance  from  the  settlements,  that  none  can  be  pro- 
cured short  of  a  visit  to  Fort  Smith ;  I  had  a  slight  attack  of  fever 
myself  and  luckily  for  me,  Dr.  Shirley  discovered  a  small  portion  of 
Quinine  which  I  partly  consumed,  and  which  had  escaped  the  vigilant 
search  of  the  so  called  Texas  Troops  at  the  time  they  took  from  him 
his  medicines  and  medical  books,  and  transferred  them  to  parts  un- 
known. These  causes  in  addition  to  some  information  in  reference 
to  Indians  which  I  will  impart,  I  hope  will  be  considered  an  ample 
apology  for  incuring  the  expenses  of  an  Express,  I  have  employed  a 
man  at  $3.00  per  day,  he  bears  his  own  expense,  and  runs  the  risk  of 
meeting  with  wild  Indians  and  land  Sharks  by  the  way. 

The  renowned  Indian  warrior  and  Chief  Buffalo  Hump  has  made 
his  appearance  with  fifteen  or  sixteen  followers,  the  remainder  of  the 
Indians  and  the  principal  part  of  his  own  party,  he  says  are  encamped 
on  the  Canadian  and  head  waters  of  the  Washita,  he  called  on  me 
the  second  day  after  his  arrival,  and  told  me  that  he  was  now  old  and 
desirous  of  abandoning  the  war  path,  and  spending  his  latter  days  in 
quietness  and  peace  with  all  men,  but  said  the  winter  would  soon  be 
at  hand,  and  that  he  would  require  a  much  better  house  than  any  he 
saw  at  the  Comanche  Camp,  that  he  thought  if  he  had  a  house,  such 
as  the  Agency  building,  that  he  would  be  warm  in  cold  weather,  and 
that  he  would  be  content  to  live  in  it,  and  pursue  the  walks  of  white 
men,  I  replied  to  him  that  I  knew  he  was  a  great  man  and  had  an 
immense  amount  of  influence  with  the  wild  tribes,  and  that  the  Con- 
federate States  had  also  heard  of  him,  and  that  if  he  thought  proper 
to  bring  in  his  people  and  settle  down  in  good  faith  on  the  Reserve, 
quit  stealing  and  depredating  upon  the  country,  that  they  would  give 
him  all  that  had  been  promised,  and  that  he  might  calculate,  that  if 
houses  were  built  for  him,  that  they  would  not  be  as  good  as  those  at 
the  Comanche  Camp,  that  several  of  those  houses  were  more  extensive 
and  expensive,  than  would  be  deemed  necessary  in  future,  that  he 
might  only  look  for  small  cabins,  and  perhaps  only  receive  assistance 
in  their  erection,  that  it  was  the  object  of  the  Confederate  States  to 
learn  the  Indians  to  work  and  support  themselves,  not  to  work  for 
them  and  support  them;  that  upon  those  terms  if  he  were  disposed  to 
settle  I  would  be  glad  to  receive  him,  if  not,  it  mattered  but  little, 
that  he  was  at  liberty  to  pursue  just  such  course  as  suited  him  best. 
The  next  day  he  called  again  his  tone  and  bearing  was  altogether 


306     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

changed,  professed  to  be  satisfied  and  said  at  the  falling  of  the  leaves, 
the  time  appointed  for  settlement  and  consumating  the  Treaty  with 
Capt.  Pike,  he  would  be  here  with  his  people.  He  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  the  others  who  had  a  conference  with  Capt.  Pike  would 
not  come  in  or  settle;  but  I  learn  from  Py-oh  who  went  out  with 
those  Chiefs  and  returned  with  Buffalo  Hump  that  their  respective 
bands  are  divided  in  sentiment,  that  about  half  of  each  band  will 
come  in  and  settle,  and  that  the  others  will  probably  remain  on  the 
prairies,  they  have  large  bands  of  stolen  horses  and  mules,  and  he 
thinks  they  are  afraid  to  bring  them  in,  lest  they  should  be  taken  away 
from  them. 

Jim  Ned  and  the  other  Delawares  with  the  exception  of  one  family 
left  the  Reserve  without  any  cause,  he  returned  from  his  first  en- 
campment and  attempted  to  persuade  Jim  Pock  Marked  to  leave  with 
his  people,  by  telling  him  that  he  would  be  assailed  by  the  Texans  be- 
fore long,  and  if  not  by  them,  most  certainly  by  the  northern  Troops, 
and  that  he  had  better  leave  at  once,  and  save  the  lives  of  his  women 
and  children.  Jim  Ned  is  a  most  unmitigated  scoundrel,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  most  if  not  all  the  disquiet  heretofore  produced  among 
the  Reserve  Indians  might  be  traced  to  him,  and  I  think  it  very  for- 
tunate that  he  has  abandoned  the  Reserve,  by  doing  so,  he  has  forfeited 
his  right  of  citizenship  upon  it,  and  the  protection  which  the  Con- 
federate States  had  guaranteed  to  him. 

I  learn  from  an  Indian  Mexican  and  a  half  breed  Delaware  Indian 
who  have  recently  returned  from  Santa  Fe,  that  all  the  northern  In- 
dians who  visit  that  part  of  the  country  are  amply  armed  and  equiped 
by  the  Federalists,  and  sent  in  every  direction  over  the  plains  as  spy 
Companies,  that  propositions  of  the  like  character,  had  been  made  to 
the  Southern  Indians,  but  not  accepted,  they  are  now  regarded  as 
enemies,  and  have  retracted  farther  South,  not  being  permitted  to  in- 
habit the  country  or  travel  as  far  north  as  heretofore;  Py-oh  re- 
marked that  they  were  herded  in  by  Texas  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  govern- 
ment like  a  band  of  horses  or  cattle. 

Please  forward  by  my  Expressman,  blank  forms  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  ask  Mr.  Johnson  to  forward  blank  forms  for  provision 
checks;  you  will  also  oblige  me  by  making  an  application  for  the 
Indian  mules  taken  by  Burrow,  and  by  aiding  the  bearer  to  procure 
the  public  wagon  and  my  harness  which  were  loaned  to  Algernon 
Cabell. 

You  are  aware  that  I  cannot  close  my  returns  without  funds  for 


Fort  Smith  Papers  307 

the  purpose,  when  shall  I  look  for  them?     Very  Respectfully  Your 
obt.  Srvt.  M.  LEEPER,  Ind.  Agent 

Elias  Rector  Esqr.,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs 
Fort  Smith  Arks. 

CREEK  AGENCY,  Sept  soth  1861 

SIR:     I  have  the  honor  to  hand  you  herewith  the  Bond  License, 
and  Invoices  of  John  Barnwell  of  the  Creek  Nation 
Very  Respectfully  Your  Obt  Servant 

W.  H.  GARRETT,  C.S.  Agent  for  Creeks 
Maj  Elias  Rector,  Superintendent  C.  A. 
Fort  Smith,  Ar 

TAHLEQUAH  C.  N.  October  the  loth  1861 
MAJ  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Superintendant  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  of  transmitting  through  your  office 
to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  at  Richmond  a  requisition  for 
the  Annuities  School  and  Orphan  funds  due  the  Cherokee  Indian  on 
Stock  invested  up  to  July  1861.  I  send  two  copies.  If  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  send  but  on[e]  you  can  arrange  that  in  regard  to  the  leave  of 
Asence  that  I  wished  you  to  grant  me  I  will  not  ask  for  owing  to  the 
Governor  declaring  my  seat  vacant  in  the  Legislator  and  ordering  an 
election  though  I  am  under  many  obligations  to  you  for  your  willing- 
ness to  grant  me  leave  the  Treaty  will  be  ratified  today.  Every  thing 
going  on  well  the  Texas  Troops  passed  through  on  Wednesday  the 
Creek  excitement  turned  out  to  be  nothing  I  shall  be  anxious  to  hear 
from  you  at  any  time  on  all  subjects  I  have  the  honor  Sir  to  be 
your  most  obedient  Servnt 

JOHN  CRAWFORD  Agent  Cherokees,  C.S.A. 
Hon.  E.  Rector,  Superintendant  Indian  Affairs 

TAHLEQUAH,  C.  N.  October  loth,  1861 
DAVID  HUBBARD  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  Richmond,  Va. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  make  out  and  transmit  to  you  a 
requisition  for  the  Annuities  due  the  Cherokee  Indians  for  the  year 
1860  and  1861 

For  the  installments  of  interest  on  the  permanent  General  fund  as 
estimated  for  July  1860  and  January  and  July  1861  forty  three  Thou- 
sand and  three  hundred  and  Seventy  two  dollars  and  thirty  six  Cents 

$43  372  36 


308     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

For  the  installments  of  interest  on  the  permanent  Orphan  fund  as 
estimated  and  uninvested  for  July  1860  and  January  and  July  1861 
four  thousand  and  five  hundred  dollars  $4.500 

For  tiie  installment  of  interest  on  the  permanent  School  fund  as  es- 
timated for  July  1860  and  January  and  July  1861  Seventeen  thousand 
Seven  hundred  and  Seventy  two  dollars  $17.772. 

Total  Amount  due  the  Cherokees  on  Stock  invested  Sixty  five  Thou- 
sand Six  hundred  and  forty  four  dollars  and  thirty  Six  Cents 

$65.644.36 

One  half  years  pay  of  Agent         .  .  .  75000 

Contingent  expenses,  l/2  year        .  .  .  75  oo 

pay  of  interpreter  l/2  year  .  .  .  200.00 


$66.669.36 

Sir  the  Statement  as  made  out  is  correct  to  the  best  of  my  judgment 
I  have  been  acting  as  Agent  for  the  Cherokee  Indians  Since  the  22nd 
day  of  April  1861  Came  by  request  of  Hon  R.  W.  Johnson  of  Arkan- 
sas, received  a  letter  from  the  Hon  David  Hubbard  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs  dated  12  June  1861  requesting  me  to  try  and  get 
along  as  Agent  of  the  Cherokees  the  best  that  I  Could  which  I  have 
done  to  the  best  advantage  and  evry  thing  here  is  working  well  for 
the  South  I  have  not  received  any  moneys  from  the  Lincoln  goven- 
ment  Since  I  have  been  acting  as  Agent  for  the  Cherokee  Indians 
Your  most  obedient  Servt  JOHN  CRAWFORD, 

Agent  for  the  Cherokee  Indians  West  of  Arkansas,  C.S.A. 
David  Hubbard,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
Richmond,  Va 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.D.  Oct.  2ist  1861 

SIR  :  Five  weeks  ago  I  despatched  a  messenger  to  Fort  Smith  with 
a  report  to  you,  and  for  medicines  for  the  Agency  and  Indians;  since 
which  time  I  have  heard  nothing  either  from  the  report  or  messenger, 
sufficient  time  has  elapsed  for  the  man  to  have  made  two  trips.  In 
the  report  of  that  date  I  apprised  you  of  the  sickness  which  had  and 
still  prevails  here  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  that  we  are  destitute  of 
medicines :  Dr.  Shirley's  supplies  having  been  forcibly  taken  from  him 
by  persons  from  Texas,  claiming  to  act  as  a  military  posse  from  that 
State.  You  are  aware  that  we  are  entirely  cut  off  from  mail  facilities, 
and  from  an  opportunity  of  procuring  medicines  of  any  description 
short  of  Fort  Smith,  the  want  of  which  has  been  excessively  annoying, 


Fort  Smith  Papers  309 

and  perhaps  the  occasion  of  several  deaths ;  this  report  will  be  handed 
you  by  a  second  messenger,  whom  I  hope  you  will  furnish  with  a 
supply  of  Quinine,  Calomel  and  blue  mass  if  nothing  more. 

On  friday  last  a  man  was  shot  at  by  an  Indian  in  company  with  six 
others  within  a  mile  of  the  late  Fort  Cobb;  on  the  next  day  two 
Indians  arrived  as  messengers  on  the  part  of  the  Kiowas  and  all  the 
Southern  bands  of  Comanches,  who  are  said  to  be  encamped  on  the 
North  Canadian  within  four  days  ride  of  this  place;  they  say  that 
their  intention  is  to  be  here  at  the  falling  of  the  leaves,  to  conclude  a 
treaty  with  Capt.  Pike.  The  Kiowas  inform  us  that  they  received 
the  white  beads  and  tobacco  from  Capt.  Pike,  and  that  they  desire  to 
be  on  terms  of  friendship  with  us,  that  it  is  the  wish  of  the  whole  band, 
with  the  exception  of  one  bad  man  and  fifteen  or  twenty  followers, 
whom  they  cannot  control,  and  that  they  desire  us  to  kill  them,  that 
if  it  is  not  done,  they  will  surely  commit  serious  depredations,  and 
that  they  believe  they  are  now  in  this  vicinity. 

The  Indians  at  present  on  the  Canadian  are  supposed  to  number 
Seven  or  eight  thousand,  and  if  they  should  come  here  as  is  anticipat- 
ed, they  will  require  a  large  amount  of  provision,  I  would  therefore 
respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of  your  notifying  the  Contractor  of 
the  fact,  that  he  may  not  be  taken  on  Surprise :  you  will  also  perceive 
the  necessity  of  Capt.  Pike  or  some  other  duly  authorized  person,  to 
be  here  at  the  appointed  time  to  consummate  treaties  with  them; 
they  say  that  no  further  depredations  will  be  committed  on  Texas, 
provided  the  twenty  men  above  described  are  killed. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  keep  you  advised  of  the  affairs  of  this 
reserve  without  some  kind  of  mail  facilities,  therefore,  I  hope  you  will 
unhesitatingly  employ  some  one  to  carry  the  mail  once  in  two  weeks 
at  least,  until  such  time  as  the  Government  shall  have  made  permanent 
arrangements,  it  is  not  more  strange  than  true,  that  I  have  not  since 
my  arrival  here  on  the  Sixth  of  August,  received  a  solitary  news  paper 
or  any  other  item  of  news,  except  such  as  can  be  gathered  from  an 
occasional  stragling  teamster,  and  that  is  the  most  reliable  informa- 
tion that  I  have  in  reference  to  the  battle  at  Springfield,  the  partic- 
ulars of  which  I  know  very  little. 

When  Capt.  Pike  left  here  it  was  his  intention  to  have  the  place 
garrisoned  in  the  shortest  time  practicable,  he  left  authority  with 
Jno.  Jones  to  enlist  thirty  Indians  to  act  as  a  protection  to  the 
Agency,  and  as  a  spy  company  in  its  vicinity,  Jno.  Jones  could  only 
enlist  Seventeen,  all  Comanches,  those  and  the  few  employees  on  the 


310     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

reserve  are  the  only  protection  we  have,  and  I  would  not  give  a  fig 
for  the  security  the  Indians  would  afford  me  in  a  case  of  actual  danger, 
they  might  be  useful  however  in  giving  information  of  the  approach 
of  an  enemy:  I  shall  feel  obliged  if  you  will  inform  me  of  the  time 
the  troops  may  be  expected,  if  the  day  is  far  distant,  I  shall  deem  it 
my  indispensable  duty  to  select  some  place  of  security  and  safety  for 
my  family,  if  it  is  the  intention  or  wish  of  the  Confederate  Govern- 
ment to  leave  this  place  ungarrisoned,  I  am  willing  to  risk  the  con- 
sequences myself,  but  I  am  unwilling  to  detain  my  family,  where  they 
are  in  danger  of  being  destroyed  by  savages:  it  is  also  apparent  that 
no  Agent  can  exercise  the  control  necessary  to  fill  the  expectations  of 
the  Government,  without  the  means  placed  within  his  reach  of  doing 
so;  without  troops  the  most  flagrant  violations  of  the  Intercourse 
Laws  might  be  practiced  every  day  with  impugnity;  and  without 
funds  to  meet  the  expenses  incident  to  the  Agency,  the  employees  can- 
not be  retained  a  great  while.  Those  Indians  who  expect  to  treat 
with  Capt.  Pike  expect  also  supplies  of  blankets  and  clothing,  and 
white  men  to  instruct  them  in  the  erection  of  houses  for  the  winter. 

Please  advise  me  by  the  return  of  my  messenger,  when  troops  may 
be  expected,  at  what  time  the  Commissioner  will  be  here,  and  funds  to 
enable  me  to  forward  my  accounts.  The  Estimates  submitted  in 
August,  in  addition  to  the  more  liberal  allowances  of  Capt.  Pike  in 
his  recent  treaty  with  the  Indians,  I  hope  will  be  all  that  is  required 
on  my  part  at  present. 

One  of  the  Articles  in  Capt.  Pike's  late  treaty,  appears  to  be  an 
offense  to  the  people  of  Texas,  and  I  think  it  very  doubtful  whether 
any  assistance  could  be  derived  from  that  quarter,  if  we  were  threat- 
ened with  the  most  iminent  danger:  with  these  remarks  submitted, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Very  Respectfully  Your  Obt.  Servt. 

M.  LEEPER,  Indian  Agent 
Elias  Rector  Esq,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs 

Fort  Smith  Arks 

FORT  SMITH  ARKANSAS,  Nov.  7th  1861 
MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Superintendent  of  Indian  affairs 

Sir:  As  you  intemated  to  me  a  few  days  since  you  ware  going  to 
Richmond,  and  would  do  me  a  favor  if  it  Laid  in  your  Power 

I  ask  you  for  the  appointment  of  Forage  Master  at  Fort  Smith 
and  The  Authority  of  Selling  off  all  condemd  Goverment  Property 
belonging  to  the  confederate  Stats  at  Fort  Smith  vanburen  and  Fay- 


Fort  Smith  Papers  311 

etteville,  you  can  Sir  do  me  this  favour,  I  am  also  a  good  judge  of 
Stock  capable  of  receiving  and  receipting  for  any  property  belonging 
belonging  to  the  quarter  masters  department,,  Such  as  horses  mules 
oxen  and  Waggens 

I  want  this  appointment  for  The,  Sole  purpose  of  keeping  yenkee 
Edwards,  from  dying  with  a  very  common  Disease  in  the  Garrison 
cald  the  Big  head  I  am  Sir  with  much  Respect  your  Obt,  Servent 

THOS.  McCARRON 

P.,S  if  you  do  me  this  favour  I  will  discharge  the  duties  with  Honour 
to  you,  and  credit  to  Myself  T.M.C 

RICHMOND  21"  November  1861. 

SIR:  The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  has  caused  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  New  Orleans  the  sum  of  twenty  five  thousand  dollars,  to  be 
used  in  purchasing  the  articles  that  are  to  be  supplied  to  the  Coman- 
ches  and  other  Reserve  Indians.  As  soon  as  you  arrive  here  the  money 
will  be  placed  at  your  disposal. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  receipt  of  this  letter,  you  will  please  send 
a  proper  person  to  the  Wichita  Agency,  and  let  the  Comanches  who 
it  is  said  are  encamped,  waiting  for  the  leaves  to  fall,  that  they  may 
come  in  and  settle,  that  I  have  been  delayed,  by  circumstances  that  I 
could  not  control,  so  as  not  to  be  able  to  meet  them  as  soon  as  I  in- 
tended ;  but  that  you  will  bring  or  send  up  their  goods,  and  I  will 
meet  them  during  the  winter.  It  is  important  that  this  should  be  told 
them  at  once.  It  would  be  better,  if  Col.  Pulliam  can  go  there  him- 
self, that  he  should  do  so.  I  do  not  know  who  else  would  answer. 

Orders  go  by  the  messenger  who  takes  this,  from  the  Acting  Com- 
missioner to  Agent  Leeper,  directing  him  to  use  all  the  government 
laborers  in  putting  up  houses  for  the  Comanches  who  are  coming  in, 
and  not  to  use  them  for  any  other  purpose.  If  it  is  possible  to  send 
up  additional  laborers,  it  had  better  be  done.  I  am  very  respectfully 
yours  ALBERT  PIKE,  Commissioner  of  the  Confederate 

States  to  the  Indian  tribes  West  of  Arkansas 
Major  Elias  Rector,  Superintendent  of  Ind.  Affairs. 

FORT  SMITH,  Novr.  22d  1861. 

DR  MAJOR.  I  send  you  the  enclosed  document  from  the  Acting 
Comr.  Ind  Affairs,  reed  here  today.  As  I  cannot  respond  to  it  for 
you  as  you  are  there  on  the  ground  —  I  send  it  to  you  for  you  to  make 
such  reply  as  you  think  proper,  in  the  premises. 


312     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

We  have  just  reed  authentic  information  from  the  armies  above,, 
the  federals  have  left  Springfield  and  are  making  their  way  towards 
St.  Louis,  for  what  cause  is  not  certainly  known  but  it  is  thought  that 
their  army  have  become  demoralized  by  the  displacing  of  Fremont 
and  the  appointment  of  Hunter  to  the  Command.  Genl  Price  broke 
up  his  encampment  at  Pineville  at  day  light  on  Saturday  last,  and  at 
last  accounts  was  at  Sarcoxie.  making  his  way  towards  the  Mo.  River 
it  is  thought  he  is  pursuing  Hunter,  you  will  see  by  an  examination 
of  the  map  that  he  will  cut  of  a  considerable  distance  by  that  route. 
Coming  into  the  road  Hunter  will  have  to  travel  at  Bolivar,  or  War- 
saw. On  the  same  day,  (Saturday  last)  Genl  McColloch  took  four 
hundred  picked  men  from  each  of  his  Mounted  Regiments  making 
2000  men  with  ten  days  provisions  and  started  in  the  direction  of 
Prices  army,  his  destination  however  is  not  known,  it  is  supposed 
however  that  he  &  Price  are  going  to  throw  their  Cavalry  forward 
to  attack  &  cut  off,  or  hold  until  their  Infantry  can  be  brought  up., 
Hunters  army.  Whether  these  conjectures  are  true  or  not  time  will 
tell.  Cooper  is  on  the  march  after  Opothleyohola.  who  it  is  said  has 
taken  Maj  Emorys  trail  through  Kansas  towards  Leaven  worth, 

Small  Pox  still  raging  Mrs  Nowland  lost  a  negro  to  day.  I 
saw  your  boy  Henry  to  day  he  says  your  family  are  all  well. 

My  kind  regards  to  Pike.     Also  to  Mr  Scott.     Your  friend  &c 

R.  P.  PULLIAM 

The  above  war  news  is  reliable,  and  you  can  give  the  information  to 
the  papers  if  you  wish.  P 

I  write  this  in  Suttons  Store,  he  says  the  above  contains  all  the  news 
we  have,  all  of  which  is  confirmed  by  Messengers  and  private  letters. 
Consequently  he  will  not  write  as  he  promised  until  something  further 
turns  up  P 

TISHOMINGO  C.N.,  Nov.  26,  1 86 1 
GEN.  A.  G.  MAYERS 

Sir:  Having  appointed  as  a  Delegate  from  this  Nation  to  the 
Southern  Congress,  am  at  a  loss  when  the  Congress  does  meet.  I 
have  all  along  understood  from  newspaper  accounts  that  it  was  to  be 
on  the  22d  of  February  but  some  seems  to  think  it  is  sooner.  Will 
you  please  inform  me  at  your  earliest  convenience  at  what  time  the 
S.  Congress  does  meet.  Your  attention  to  the  above  is  respectfully 
requested  I  am  yours  very  Respectfully  JAMES  GAMBLE 

P.S.  Please  continue  to  send  me  the  Parallel.  I  will  make  it  all 
right  with  you  when  on  my  way  to  Va.  J.G. 


Fort  Smith  Papers  313 

OFFICE  SUPT.  IND.  AFFAIRS  FORT  SMITH,  Deer.  1861 
MR.  JESSE  CHISHOLM 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  returned  from  Richmond  where  I  have 
been  to  see  the  President  on  Indian  business.  I  wish  you  to  go  out 
immediately  and  see  the  bands  of  Comanches  that  are  encamped  above 
Fort  Cobb  and  tell  them  that  it  is  the  wish  of  their  great  father  at 
Richmond  that  they  come  in  at  once  and  settle  on  the  reserve,  that  so 
soon  as  they  do  so  they  will  be  furnished  with  Beef  -  Flour,  Salt, 
Sugar  &  Coffee.  And  that  the  great  father  says  that  all  the  goods  & 
things  that  Commissioner  Pike  promised  them  will  be  furnished  and 
given  to  them.  That  the  Arkansas  River  has  now  too  little  water  in 
it  for  Steam  Boats  to  come  up  from  the  big  Cities  to  bring  goods,  but 
as  soon  as  the  big  water  comes  in  the  River  and  Boats  come  up  their 
great  father  will  send  up  to  them  many  large  wagons  filled  with  nice 
goods  that  I  want  them  to  send  four  or  five  of  their  Chiefs  and  head 
men  to  Genl.  Pikes  head  quarters,  near  Fort  Gibson  where  he  and 
myself  will  meet  them  and  talk  with  them  and  give  them  a  great  many 
presents  and  satisfy  them  that  the  government  will  do  all  that  Com- 
missioner Pike  promised  them.  I  wish  Buffalo  Hump  and  his  band 
now  on  the  reserve  to  be  told  this,  and  for  him  and  four  or  five  of 
his  principal  men  to  come  also,.  I  will  direct  the  Contractor  at  the 
Wichita  Agency  to  furnish  them  with  Rations  to  bring  them  over 
and  I  will  furnish  them  with  Rations  to  return  home,  tell  them  to 
bring,  in  all  about  twenty  pack  horses  to  carry  back  their  presents.  I 
want  them  to  meet  us  at  Genl  Pikes  Camp  or  head  quarters  near  Fort 
Gibson,  on  the  first  of  February  if  possible  I  have  written  a  letter  to 
T  Caraway  inviting  him  to  come  with  some  three  or  four  of  his  men 
and  I  wish  you  to  urge  him  to  come,  Commissioner  Pike  is  now  in 
Richmond  with  their  great  father  making  arrangements  to  get  their 
goods  and  to  do  much  for  them  he  would  have  been  up  to  see  them 
at  the  falling  of  the  leaves  but  he  has  been  very  sick  and  could  not 
travel  he  is  now  well  and  will  be  here  soon  and  will  go  from  here  to 
his  head  quarters.  [ELIAS  RECTOR] 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  Richmond,  Dec  ad,   1 86 1. 
MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 

Sir:  I  am  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  say  that  three 
requisitions  have  been  drawn  by  him  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 


314     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ury  in  your  favor,  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  &c.,-  One  for 
nine  thousand,  six  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  dated  Dec.  4th  1861, 
one  for  two  thousand,  one  hundred  and  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents, 
dated  December  5th  1861,  and  the  other  for  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
dated  December  6th  1861. 

With  the  money  received  by  you  upon  the  first  named  requisition, 
you  will  pay  Charles  B.  Johnson,  the  amount  of  his  account  against 
the  Confederate  States  for  Beef  furnished  certain  Bands  of  Reserve 
Indians,  from  July  ist  to  August  i6th  under  a  verbal  contract  made 
by  him  with  Albert  Pike,  Commissioner,  &c.,  and  also  pay  the  mount- 
ed escort  of  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  engaged  by  General  Pike  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  Comanche  Country,  &c.  In  regard  to  this  escort 
General  Pike,  in  a  letter  to  the  War  Department,  of  the  I4th  Octo- 
ber, says  that  he  had  muster  rolls  regularly  made  out,  and  gave  pay 
accounts  to  the  officers,  and  slips  showing  the  amount  due  each  of  the 
men. 

With  the  money  received  by  you  upon  the  second  named  requisi- 
tion you  will  pay  Charles  B.  Johnson  the  balance  due  him  by  the  old 
United  States  Government  prior  to  the  3Oth  June,  1861,  and  which 
General  Pike,  at  the  time  of  making  the  verbal  contract  hereinbefore 
mentioned,  agreed  to  pay  or  have  paid  him. 

And  with  the  money  received  by  you  upon  the  third  named  requi- 
sition, you  will  pay  such  expenses  of  the  Superintendency  and  different 
Agencies,  as  may  be  necessary,  proper  and  legitimate.  The  balance  of 
this  money  can  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  suitable  clothing,  if  it 
can  be  bought  at  fair  prices,  for  the  Reserve  Indians,  which  Commis- 
sioner Pike,  in  the  Treaty  of  the  I2th  August,  1861,  agreed  should 
be  speedily  furnished  them. 

You  will  forward  a  statement  as  to  the  disbursement  of  these  sev- 
eral sums  of  money  with  the  proper  voucher,  &c.     Very  respectfully, 
S.  S.  SCOTT,  Act'g  Commr.  of  Indian  Affairs. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  C.S.A.,  SECOND  AUDITOR'S  OFFICE 

Richmond,  Va,  Dec  7th-i86i. 

SIR:  The  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States  will  remit  to  you 
the  sum  of  Thirty  two  thousand  one  hundred  &  four  50/100  dollars 

,  being  the  amount  of  E.equisition  No.  1889  &  1890 

issued  in  your  favor  on  the  6th  Inst-,  with  which  you  are  charged 


Fort  Smith  Papers  315 

on  the  Books  of  this  Office,  on  account  of  the  following  Appropria- 
tion, to  wit: 

"To  meet  the  Incidental  Expenses  of  the  Public  service  within  the 
Indian  Tribes,"  as  per  Act  May  21,  1861,  No.  232. 

Requisition  No.  1889. .  ..  .       $2,104.50 

Req.  "     1890,  Same  as  above .  .       30.000. " 

$32.104.50 


The  Treasurer  will  advise  you  when  the  same  will  be  remitted  for 
which  you  will  please  forward  a  Receipt  to  this  OfHce,  specifying 
therein  the  date,  number  and  amount  of  said  Requisition.  I  am, 
very  respectfully,  Your  Ob't  Serv't  AUDITOR. 

To  Elias  Rector,  Esq,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs,  Present 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.  D.,  Deer.  i2th  1861. 
SIR:  In  all  my  official  relations  I  have  endeavored  to  be  governed 
strictly  by  the  instructions  of  my  superior  officers,  and  in  reference 
to  the  alledged  real  or  imaginary  impropriety  of  my  course  towards 
Buffalo  Hump  in  your  letter  of  the  I2th  Oct.  last,  I  must  plead  my 
instructions  in  mitigation  which  I  followed  strictly,  not  being  in  pos- 
session of  any,  except  the  verbal  instructions  of  Commissioner  Hub- 
bard,  which  was  in  effect  to  exercise  my  best  judgment  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  affairs  of  the  Reserve,  but  in  all  things  to  be  governed 
by  strict  rules  of  economy.  In  my  report  to  you  of  the  I2th  Augst.  I 
solicited  written  instructions,  a  copy  of  the  Intercourse  Laws  and  of 
the  Contract  for  furnishing  supplies  for  the  Indians,  but  as  yet,  have 
not  received  even  a  reply  to  my  communication.  There  is  no  Indian 
with  whose  character  and  habits  I  am  more  familiar  than  with  Buf- 
falo Humps ;  he  is  a  fugitive  from  the  Texas  Agency  of  which  I  was 
placed  in  charge;  the  late  Superintendent  of  that  State  worried  with 
him  for  three  years  before  he  could  induce  him  to  settle,  he  would 
come  in  and  make  promises  to  do  so,  and  the  Superintendent  would 
load  him  with  presents,  he  would  return  to  the  prairies  depredate  up- 
on the  country  until  his  blankets  were  worn  out,  then  return  with  a 
plausible  excuse  for  not  coming  in  with  his  people,  receive  other  pres- 
ents return  again  to  the  prairies  and  repeat  the  same  thing  over  again 
until  the  Superintendents  patience  became  exhausted,  and  informed 
Buffalo  Hump  that  he  would  not  submit  to  any  further  trifling  on 
the  subject,  that  he  had  nothing  more  for  him,  but  as  he  had  come 
in  peace,  he  might  return  in  peace,  but  that  afterwards  he  would 


316     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

pursue  and  hunt  him  down  with  the  troops;     Buffalo  Hump  then 
changed  his  tone,  begged  to  be  permitted  to  have  a  certain  length  of 
time  allowed  him  to  bring  in  his  people  without  renumeration  or 
presents,  at  that  time  it  was  granted,  and  at  the  appointed  time  he 
brought  in  his  people  and  settled  on  the  Reserve,  where  he  remained 
until  a  feud  took  place  between  him  and  the  Chief  of  the  band  locat- 
ed previously,  which  caused  him  to  abandon  the  Reserve  and  pursue 
his  former  predatory  habits.     I  induced  him  to  come  in  this  time, 
in  addition  to  the  other  wild  chiefs,  who  met  Commissioner  Pike 
in  Augst.  last,  and  entered  into  an  informal  treaty  with  them,  it 
was  the  result  of  a  years  negotiation,  which  was  carried  on  by  means 
of  messengers   from  this  Reserve;   it  was  attempted  years   ago  by 
Judge  Rollins,  one  of   the  ablest  Indian  Agents  perhaps  the  U.S. 
ever  had,  who  spent  eighteen  months  in  attempting  to  accomplish 
the  object;  Agent  Stemm  lost  his  life  in  efforts  of  the  kind;  Major 
Neighbors  a  very  ingenious  and  competent  Agent  exerted  his  influ- 
ence for  six  or  seven  years  to  no  purpose:  —  Dr.  Hill,  a  most  popular 
Indian  Agent  and  influential  man,  labored  four  years  without  effect, 
and  Capt.  Ross'  influence  was  equally  ineffectual,  yet  I  am  informed 
in  your  letter  of  the  I2th  Oct.  that  both  yourself  and  Commissioner 
Pike  regret  much  that  I  did  not  hold  out  all  the  inducements  which 
were  in  my  power,  and  use  all  the  forces  and  means  at  my  command 
to  provide  him  with  such  houses  as  were  contemplated  and  provided 
by  Commissioner  Pike  for  the  comfort  of  those  Indians.     In   this 
matter  I  appear  to  be  peculiarly  unfortunate.     You  are  fully  aware 
that  I  have  not  received  any  means  for  the  erection  of  houses  or  for 
any  other  purpose,  and  that  the  few  employees  who  were  induced  to 
engage  in  the  work  with  a  hope  of  renumeration  hereafter  were  all 
sick,  which  fact  I  made  known  in  my  report  of  the  I5th  Septr.  last, 
therefore  it  will  be  perceived  that  I  had  no  means  in  my  power  to 
build  houses  or  any  thing  else,  nor  would  I  have  employed  them  in 
building  houses  for  Buffalo  Hump  in  advance  of  his  settlement,  if 
I  had  possessed  ever  so  much  in  the  absence  of  positive  instructions 
to  that  effect.     The  course  I  pursued  with  him  induced  him  to  come 
in  with  his  people  a  week  in  advance  of  the  time  promised  and  settle, 
he  has  given  me  no  further  trouble,  tells  me  he  intends  to  remain 
here  for  life,  that  he  does  not  wish  houses  built  until  such  times  as 
he  can  select  a  suitable  place  on  the  Reserve  for  his  future  home, 
and  has  employed  as  spies  for  me  two  of  his  sons  who  are  with  the 
wild  tribes  watching  their  movements  and  those  of  the    northern 


Fort  Smith  Papers  317 

troops,  to  give  immediate  notice  in  case  of  an  advanced  demonstration 
upon  this  part  of  the  country. 

During  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years  public  service,  I  have 
received  two  rebukes  only  from  my  superior  officers  on  account  of 
my  official  conduct,  yours  in  reference  to  Buffalo  Hump  and  from 
the  late  Superintendent  in  Texas  for  failing  to  insert  at  the  close  of 
one  of  my  official  letters  "y°ur  obt.  Srvt." 

I  infer  from  your  letter  of  the  3Oth  of  Octr.  that  you  conclude, 
I  am  disposed  to  interfere  with  your  appointment  of  Commissary, 
I  can  assure  you  that  such  was  not  nor  never  has  been  my  intention 
to  disturb  or  meddle  in  the  slightest  degree  with  the  appointment  of 
Commissary  or  any  other  which  it  may  be  your  pleasure  to  make; 
sending  Sturm  as  messenger  was  a  matter  of  necessity  not  of  choice, 
I  apprised  you  by  him  that  I  was  not  only  sick  myself,  but  that  my 
family  and  almost  every  one  on  the  Reserve  were  sick  and  without 
medicine,  Sturm  although  sick,  was  the  only  person  I  could  obtain 
as  messenger  who  was  willing  to  make  the  trip  alone,  and  with  the 
confident  hope  that  by  sending  him  I  would  obtain  medicines  which 
would  afford  my  family  relief ;  I  was  induced  to  do  so  with  an  under- 
standing that  he  was  to  receive  pay  not  only  as  Commissary  during 
the  time  of  his  absence,  but  three  dollars  per  day  also  for  his  services 
as  messenger  and  I  procured  the  assistance  gratuitously  of  Mr 
Bickel  one  of  the  interpreters  to  act  as  Commissary  during  his 
absence,  whose  name  appears  on  the  prevision  checks  for  that  quarter 
merely  to  prevent  confusion  of  the  accounts,  but  my  most  sanguine 
hopes  were  disappointed  for  the  messenger  returned  without  medi- 
cines, and  my  son  has  not  recovered  yet.  Whilst  upon  this  subject 
allow  me  most  respectfully  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  fact,  and 
through  you  the  Department,  that  the  office  of  Commissary  is  a 
sinecure,  and  expense  which  is  utterly  useless  to  the  Government  and 
an  injury  to  the  public  Service,  the  duty  of  Commissary  simply  being 
an  impartial  weigher  and  witness  to  the  delivery  of  supplies  agreably 
to  the  terms  of  the  Contract;  I,  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the  Agent 
where  issues  are  made  at  the  Agency  to  be  present,  and  represent  the 
interest  of  the  Indians,  and  the  Interpreters  who  are  required  to  be 
present  to  witness  the  issues,  such  has  been  the  case  heretofore,  no 
Commissary  has  ever  been  employed  at  other  Agencies,  except  where 
issues  were  made  at  remote  places  or  where  it  was  impracticable  for 
the  Agent  to  be  present;  the  Commissary  is  employed  perhaps  half 
a  day  once  a  week,  the  remainder  of  the  time  is  spent  in  utter  idle- 


318     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ness,  and  in  gossiping  with  the  employees  and  Indians  on  the  Reserve. 
I  received  a  recent  visit  from  the  Chiefs  who  met  Comr.  Pike  in 
Augst.  last,  after  preparing  to  hold  a  Council  or  talk  with  them, 
their  first  demand  was  whiskey,  they  said  they  could  not  talk  without 
having  whiskey  first,  after  a  length  of  time  however,  I  convinced 
them  that  I  had  no  whiskey,  and  that  whiskey  was  not  allowed  on 
the  Reserve,  they  then  informed  me  that  they  had  approached  this 
place  at  the  appointed  time  "the  falling  of  the  leaves"  and  ascer- 
tained that  the  Commissioner  was  not  here  nor  the  presents  agreably 
to  promise,  that  now  they  were  here  long  after  the  time  and  still 
there  are  no  presents  or  Commissioner,  I  explained  to  them  that  the 
Comr.  had  delegated  to  me  his  authority  for  the  time  being,  and  that 
he  was  now  purchasing  goods  to  issue  in  accordance  with  his  promise 
as  soon  as  they  would  comply  with  their  part  of  the  agreement  and 
settle  with  their  people  on  the  Reserve,  that  they  would  have  the 
privilege  of  settling  on  any  part  of  the  Leased  District  that  suited 
them  best,  and  that  I  would  issue  provisions  to  them  until  such  time 
as  the  goods  would  arrive,  they  informed  me  that  they  had  been  lied 
to  a  good  deal,  and  that  they  wanted  some  greater  and  further 
evidence  now  of  the  sincerity  of  the  Government,  that  as  the  goods 
were  not  here,  which  were  intended  for  them,  that  they  would  take 
a  few  that  the  trader  had,  and  be  satisfied  with  those,  until  such 
time  as  the  others  would  be  forthcoming,  and  probably  settle  at  the 
time  the  grass  rises  in  the  Spring,  I  told  them  that  the  traders  goods 
did  not  belong  to  me  or  to  the  Government,  and  that  I  was  conse- 
quently unauthorized  to  issue  them,  they  then  instantly  rose  up  and 
told  me  they  were  going,  I  called  back  a  Kioway  Chief  and  told  him 
as  it  was  his  first  visit,  that  I  would  make  him  a  present  of  some 
blankets,  paint  and  tobacco,  that  I  was  glad  to  see  him,  that  the 
Government  desired  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  him  and  his  people, 
and  that  if  he  thought  proper  to  come  here  with  his  people  and  settle, 
that  he  could  do  so  on  the  same  terms  as  the  others,  he  informed 
me  that  that  was  the  object  of  his  visit,  that  he  would  return  and 
consult  on  the  subject  and  at  no  distant  day  would  make  me  another 
visit,  and  apprise  me  of  the  result  of  their  deliberations ;  in  the  mean 
time  the  others  returned  in  a  better  humor,  and  I  told  them  that  upon 
my  own  responsibility,  I  would  make  them  a  few  little  presents,  of 
blankets,  paints,  &c.  which  appeared  to  satisfy  them,  and  when  they 
finally  left,  declared  their  friendly  intentions,  and  said  they  would 
ultimately  settle  here  in  compliance  with  the  treaty. 


Fort  Smith  Papers  319 

In  compliance  with  your  letter  of  instructions  of  the  25th  of  Octr 
last,  I  have  rendered  H.  L.  Rodgers  all  the  assistance  in  my  power 
in  the  way  of  his  building  operations.  Very  Respectfully.  Your 
obt.  Servt.  M.  LEEPER,  Ind.  Agt.  C.S.A. 

Elias  Rector  Esq.,  Supt.  Indian  Affairs. 

Fort  Smith,  Arks. 

FORT  SMITH,  ARK.,  Dec.  2yth,  1861. 

SIR  :  Owing  to  the  continued  excitement  in  the  Creek  and  Semi- 
nole  Nations,  and  the  dangers  necessarily  to  be  encountered  by  persons 
either  residing  in  or  travelling  through  the  Indian  Country,  my 
return  to  the  Agency  has  been  delayed  longer  than  I  expected.  Taking 
into  consideration  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  I  deemed  it  best 
and  most  prudent  to  await  your  return  from  Richmond  and  submit 
a  report  of  the  case  to  you.  When  I  left  the  Agency  early  in  November 
there  seemed  a  unity  of  opinion  and  general  profession  of  Loyalty  to 
the  Southern  Confederacy;  but  since  then  there  has  been  much  disaf- 
fection and  increase  of  excitement.  The  consequence  has  been  that 
some  of  the  Traders  residing  among  the  upper  Creeks  have  left  — 
narrowly  escaping  with  their  lives.  Others  are,  as  I  learn,  preparing 
to  leave.  Since  my  departure  from  the  Agency  there  has  been  two 
engagements  between  the  Confederate  forces  under  command  of  Col. 
Cooper  and  the  followers  of  Hopothleyoholo,  in  both  engagements 
Col.  Cooper  was  victorious.  This,  however,  has  only  increased  the 
vindictiveness  of  Hopothleyoholos  Party  and,  consequently,  magnified 
the  dangers  attendent  on  travelling  through  or  residing  in  the  Nation. 
My  Agency  is,  as  you  are  aware,  situated  two  hundred  miles  west  of 
this  place,  and  wholy  unprotected  and  exposed  to  depredation,  it  is 
very  insecure.  Parscofer  and  others  as  stated  in  my  report  to  the 
Department  as  heading  the  disaffected  party,  were  leaders,  in  the 
recent  battles,  on  side  of  the  enemy.  But  I  am  pleased  to  be  able 
to  state  that  Jumper,  Short  Bird,  Cloud  and  Holatut  Fixico  were 
found  with  Col.  Cooper  doing  their  duty  as  faithful  and  Loyal  allies. 
It  will,  probably,  not  be  a  great  while  before  the  excitement  may 
subside,  rendering  travel  and  residence  there  more  secure.  When 
you  deem  it  necessary  and  safe  for  me  to  return  I  will  be  ready.  I 
await  your  orders  on  the  subject.  I  am  very  Respectfully  Your 
obt.  Servt.  SAM'L  M.  RUTHERFORD,  C.S.  Agent  for  Seminoles. 

Maj.  E.  Rector,  Sup.  Ind.  Affairs,  C.S.A., 

Fort  Smith,  Ark. 


320     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

RICHMOND,  VA.,  29th  December,  1861. 

SIR:  I  send  herewith,  to  your  care,  by  a  Special  Messenger, 
packages  for  the  Principal  Chiefs  of  the  Cherokee,  Creek,  Seminole, 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Nations,  which  please  forward  to  each 
immediately  by  express. 

Also  a  talk  for  the  Comanches  and  Caiawas,  which,  if  they  are 
still  near  Fort  Cobb,  I  wish  sent  to  them  by  express.  There  is  a 
letter  to  Chisholm,  and  it  would  perhaps  be  well  to  send  the  talk 
to  him  and  get  him  to  go  up  and  see  them. 

Also  a  letter  for  Major  Dorn  and  one  to  his  Indians.  I  want 
them  to  come  down  to  Head  Quarters  and  receive  what  is  to  be 
given  them.  I  do  not  know  how  you  will  get  his  letter  to  him. 

The  Treaties  are  all  ratified,  with  two  or  three  amendments  that 
will  cut  no  great  figure.  As  to  the  money  part,  nothing  has  changed. 
Congress  appropriated  $681,000  and  over,  under  the  Treaties,  includ- 
ing Charley  Johnson's  money  up  to  middle  of  February,  of  the  whole 
sum,  $265,000  and  odd  is  to  be  paid  in  specie.  I  shall  get  the 
Treasury  notes  to-morrow,  and  the  Specie  in  New  Orleans,  and  shall 
bring  it  all  to  you.  The  Secretary  agreed,  indeed  proposed,  to  send 
it  out  by  me. 

Among  them,  they  fixed  my  compensation  at  $3,750. 

I  mean  to  be  at  Head  Quarters  by  the  25th  of  January.  I  hope 
the  different  Tribes  will  ratify  the  amendments,  so  that  you  can  pay 
them  pretty  soon  after  that  time. 

I  think  you  had  better  buy  all  the  goods,  of  Cochran  and  others, 
for  the  Comanches,  that  you  can.  I  want  them  to  meet  me  at 
Head  Quarters,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  have  some  goods  for  them. 
Congress  would  not  agree  to  give  them  any  arms. 

I  hope  when  we  pay  the  Indians  their  money,  and  I  get  some 
white  troops  in  the  Country,  we  shall  settle  the  difficulties  there. 
God  knows. 

Give  my  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Rector  and  the  children.  Always 
yours.  ALBERT  PIKE. 

I  send  Dr.  Duval's  appointment,  and  Mr.  Sandals',  by  the 
Messenger. 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT 
Office  of  Indian  Affairs,  Richmond,  December  3Oth,  1861. 
MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs, 

Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 
Sir:     The  first  session  of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States 


Fort  Smith  Papers  321 

will  be  held  on  the  i8th  February  next;  and  it  is  important  that  the 
Report,  from  this  Bureau,  in  regard  to  Indian  Affairs,  for  the  benefit 
of  that  Body,  should  be  as  full  as  possible.  That  this  may  be  so,  it 
is  essential  that  information  should  be  sent  here,  at  least  by  the  I5th 
of  that  month,  of  the  true  condition  of  affairs,  in  each  of  the  several 
Agencies  under  your  supervision. 

You  will,  therefore,  write  to  all  of  the  Agents,  and  state  to  them 
these  facts.  Advise  them  also  to  give  you  full  reports  of  all  matters 
connected  with  their  respective  charges,  and  forward  them,  when 
received  to  this  office.  Very  respectfully, 

S.  S.  SCOTT,  Act'g  Commr.  of  Ind.  Affairs. 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT 
Office    of    Indian    Affairs,    Richmond,    Jany.    ist,    1862. 
MAJOR  ELIAS  RECTOR,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs, 
Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 

Sir:  An  Act  was  recently  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  Confed- 
erate States,  and  approved  December  26th,  1861,  "making  appropria- 
tions to  comply,  in  part,  with  Treaty  stipulations  made  with  certain 
Indian  Tribes."  The  whole  amount  appropriated  by  this  Act  was 
six  hundred  and  eighty  one  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  sixty  nine 
dollars,  and  fifteen  cents. 

By  sundry  requisitions  of  the  Secretary  of  War  upon  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  this  sum  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  General 
Albert  Pike,  for  delivery  to  you,  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs. 

Herewith  you  will  receive  Tabular  Statements,  marked  Numbers 
(i)  and  (2)  for  your  information  and  guidance,  as  to  the  times 
manner,  &c.,  that  this  money  is  to  be  disbursed. 

You  will  perceive  from  these  statements,  that  one  hundred  and 
nineteen  thousand,  three  hundred  and  forty  dollars  can  be  used,  for 
the  purposes  indicated  immediately,  or,  whenever,  it  may  be  deemed 
essential  by  you;  while  the  residue,  amounting  to  five  hundred  and 
sixty  two  thousand,  five  hundred  and  twenty  nine  dollars  and  fifteen 
cents,  is  dependent,  for  its  dusbursement,  upon  the  ratification  of  the 
Treaties,  as  amended  by  the  several  Indian  Tribes.  Very  respect- 
fully, S.  S.  SCOTT,  Act'g  Commr.  of  Indian  Affairs. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT,  C.S.A.,  SECOND  AUDITOR'S  OFFICE, 

Richmond,  Va.  Dec  3ist  1861. 

SIR  — The  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States  will  remit  to  you 
the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  eighty  one  thousand,  eight  hundred  & 


322     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

sixty  nine  15/100  dollars-,  being  the  amount  of  Requisitions  Nos. 
2175-76-77-78-79-80-81-82-83  &  84  issued  in  your  favor  on  the  2Oth 
Instant  -,  with  which  you  are  charged  on  the  Books  of  this  Office,  on 
account  of  the  following  Appropriation,  to  wit: 
"An  Act  making  Appropriations  to  comply  in  part  with  Treaty 
Stipulations  made  with  certain  Indian  Tribes,"  as  per  Act 

Requisition  No.  2175  For  Contingencies  of  superintending  &  Agencies  $     3,500.00 

Do         "    2176     "    Sundry  Appropriations  for  Cherokee  Indians  237,944.36 

"      Do               Do              "    Seminole  Indians  61,050.00 
"    Choctaw&Chick- 

asaws        .        .  115,126.89 

2179  "       "                   "               "    Creek    Indians  72,950.00 

2180  "       "                   "               "    Comanches  .        .  64,862.00 

2181  "       "                   "               "   Reserve  Indians  82,905.00 

2182  "       "                   "               "    Seneca  Indians  11,962.46 

2183  "       "                   "               "    Quapaw  Indians  9,000.00 

2184  "       "                   "               "    Osage  Indians  22,568.44 


Total        $681,869.15 

The  Treasurer  will  advise  you  when  the  same  has  been  placed  to 

your  credit  on  his  Books,  or  hand  you  a  Draft  -  for  which  you  will 

please  forward  a  Receipt  to  this  Office,  specifying  therein  the  date, 

number  and  amount  of  said  Requisition.     I  am,  very  respectfully, 

your  ob't  serv't,  W.  H.  S.  TAYLOR,  Auditor. 

To  Genl  Albert  Pike,  Agent  for  the  War  Department  for  delivery 

of  the  above  funds  to  Elias  Rector,   Supt.   Ind.  Affairs,  now  in 

Richmond,  Va. 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  TREASURER'S  OFFICE, 

Richmond,  Va.,  Jan?  23 
ELIAS  RECTOR,  Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

Sir,  I  have  this  day  placed  to  your  credit  3,000  Dollars,  amount 
of  Warrant  No.  23  Issued  in  your  favor  by  War  Department. 
Your  checks  on  the  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States  will  be 
honoured  for  that  amount.  Please  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  this 
Notification,  and  enclose  your  official  signature.  Very  Respectfully, 

E.  C.  ELMORE,  Treasurer  C.S. 


Fort  Smith  Papers  323 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Office    of    Indian    Affairs,    Richmond    Jany    2jd     1862. 

MAJ.  E.  RECTOR,  Superintendent  &c,  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 

SIR:     General  Pike  of  date  Dec.  3Oth  1861,  writes  to  this  Bureau, 

as  follows: 

In  order  to  obtain  the  ratification,  by  the  several  Indian  Tribes,  of 
the  amendments  made  by  Congress  to  the  Indian  Treaties  negotiated  by 
me,  and  to  effect  a  Treaty  with  the  Caiowas,  I  have  sent  messages  to 
the  Creeks,  Seminoles,  Cherokees,  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  requesting 
that  their  national  Councils  may  be  convened ;  and  to  the  Chiefs  of  the 
Osages,  Quapaws,  Senecas,  Senecas  and  Shawnes,  Comanches,  Reserve 
Indians  and  Caiowas,  requesting  them  to  meet  me  at  my  head  Quarters. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  furnish  provisions  to  the  Creek  and  Seminole 
Councils,  and  to  feed  the  more  uncivilized  Chiefs,  while  in  Council, 
and  on  their  return,  and  also  perhaps  to  make  some  presents ;  for  which 
purposes  no  funds  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Superintendent  or  myself. 

In  accordance  with  these  suggestions  and  at  the  request  of  this 
Bureau  a  requisition  was  drawn  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  few  days 
ago,  for  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars,  which  is  to  be  placed  to 
your  credit  in  the  Treasury. 

You  will  please  use  this  money,  or  so  much  of  it,  as  may  be  neces- 
sary, for  the  purposes,  and  in  the  manner,  above  indicated.  Very 
respectfully,  S.  S.  SCOTT,  Act'g  Commr.  of  Ind.  Affairs. 

LITTLE  ROCK,  ARK.,  28th  January,  1862. 

DEAR  RECTOR:  I  will  leave  here  on  Friday  morning.  It  will 
take  me,  I  suppose,  six  days  to  reach  Fort  Smith  with  the  money. 
This  will  bring  me  to  the  5th,  6th  or  7th  of  February. 

I  have  $265.927.50  in  specie,  all  in  gold  except  $65.000  in  silver. 
Of  course  I  must  stay  with  it.  I  think  I  can  make  the  journey, 
though  in  six  days. 

I  think  you  had  better  go  up  to  my  head  Quarters  immediately, 
and  arrange  to  feed  the  Comanches  and  others  if  they  come  there; 
and  keep  them  there  until  I  reach  the  place.  I  can  take  the  money 
there,  and  send  by  the  same  messenger  who  takes  this,  to  Colonel 
Cooper  for  an  escort. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  Choctaws  means  to  sell  the  coin  his  people 
get,  buy  Confederate  paper,  and  put  the  difference  in  his  pocket.  We 
must  stop  that.  I  think  the  best  way  will  be  for  you  to  notify  the 
Chief,  Hudson,  the  amount  to  be  paid  in  coin,  and  that  you  will  pay 
it  to  the  Treasurer  only  in  the  presence  of  three  Commissioners 
appointed  by  himself. 


324     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

If  you  can  pay  the  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  at  my  Head  Quarters, 
it  will  of  course  be  much  better. 

I  have  had  to  ask  the  immediate  removal  of  Leeper,  and  the 
appointment  of  Col.  Pulliam  in  his  place.  This  I  have  done  to-day, 
sending  extracts  from  your  letter,  Charley  Johnson's  and  Quesen- 
bury's. 

The  Secretary  is  also  advised,  now,  of  Garrett's  continual 
[illegible]. 

Why  do  you  not  demand  his  removal,  and  name  a  person  for 
his  place? 

I  don't  believe  Col.  Cooper  will  be  removed.  The  President  said 
in  my  presence,  "Now  that  the  Choctaws  have  a  Delegate  in  Congress, 
what  need  of  an  Agent?" 

About  150  gamblers  are  here,  following  up  the  Indian  moneys. 
I  enclose  an  order  requiring  passports,  that  will  keep  them  out  of 
the  Nation. 

I  have  the  $150.000  advance  for  the  Cherokees,  the  $12.000  due 
the  Nation,  and  the  $10.300  due  the  Treaty  party  or  Stand  Watie's,  — 
all  in  paper.  Also  the  $50.000  advance  for  the  Choctaws.  In  paper 
and  specie,  I  have  for  you  $631.000  and  over. 

Have  you  received  the  money,  (some  $3.000)  that  I  asked  should 
be  sent  you  to  pay  expenses  of  the  new  Indian  Councils? 

If  you  cannot  go  to  Head  Quarters  immediately,  you  will  have  to 
send  some  one,  and  let  him  and  Colonel  Cooper  keep  the  Indians 
contented.  Always  yours,  ALBERT  PIKE. 

Maj.  E.  Rector. 

OFFICE  SUPT.  IND.  AFFAIRS,  Fort  Smith,  Feby  ist,  1862. 

SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  Reports  of 
Agents  Leeper,  Cooper,  Rutherford  and  Crawford.  No  report  has 
been  received  from  Agent  Dorn. 

Business  of  importance  requires  me  to  leave  here  to-day  for  Fort 
Gibson  and  the  Creek  Agency,  it  is  important  for  me  to  take  charge 
of  the  public  property  at  the  Creek  Agency  which  I  shall  do  on  my 
arrival  there  and  I  will  turn  the  same  over  to  R  P  Pulliam  who 
I  have  appointed  Agent  to  act  until  the  Department  may  make  a 
permanent  appointment  and  I  hope  Mr  Pulliam  may  be  the  person 
appointed.  I  have  also  appointed  to  meet  a  delegation  of  Comanches 
and  Kiawas  at  Fort  Gibson  where  I  expect  Genl  Pike  and  myself 
will  effect  treaties  with  them.  I  have  sent  a  lot  of  goods  to  make 


Fort  Smith  Papers  325 

some  presents  to  them  and  to  the  wild  bands  with  whom  Genl 
Pike  made  treaties  last  fall  and  to  whom  he  promised  some  goods; 
after  meeting  these  delegation  and  ascertaining  what  can  be  effected 
with  them  I  will  make  out  and  forward  to  you  a  report  of  Indian 
matters  generally  in  this  superintendency  which  I  hope  will  reach 
you  in  time  to  be  of  some  service  to  the  Department.  I  could  not, 
until  after  I  meet  those  Indians  and  ascertain  the  condition  of  the 
Creek  Agency,  make  a  full  and  satisfactory  report. 

In  regard  to  Agent  Crawfords  report  I  must  here  state,  that  from 
the  best  information  I  can  obtain  of  the  condition  of  affairs  among 
the  Cherokees,  I  cannot  concur  with  him,  but  I  will  inform  myself 
fully  in  this  regard  during  my  present  visit  among  them  and  will 
furnish  my  views  fully  in  my  report,  Very  Respectfully  Your  Obt. 
Servt.  E.  RECTOR,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs 

S.  S.  SCOTT  Esq  Acting  Comr.  Ind.  Affairs 

Richmond,  Va 

OFFICE  SUPT  IND  AFFAIR,  Fort  Smith  Feby  ist  1862 
SIR:  Genl.  Pike  is  here  with  $50.000  Dollars  in  Gold  and 
Silver  for  the  Choctaws,  and  as  I  am  compelled  to  accompany  him 
on  important  business  to  Fort  Gibson,  I  have  determined  to  take  the 
above  money  with  me  to  that  place  and  pay  it  out  there,  which  will 
be  as  convenent  for  you  as  to  pay  it  here,  and  as  Col  Cooper  will 
have  to  be  present  at  the  payment,  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  payment 
when  he  can  attend.  I  will  be  ready  to  pay  over  to  your  Treasurer 
the  above  money  at  Fort  Gibson  in  days  from  this  date,  and  I 
wish  you  to  send  with  your  Treasurer  a  delegation  of  three  responsi- 
ble persons  to  be  selected  by  you  to  witness  the  payment.  This  I  re- 
quire, as  it  is  a  special  case  with  our  government  to  pay  out  Coins  to 
the  Indian  tribes  at  this  time,  and  to  insure  the  payment  by  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  same  funds  to  your  people,  that  he  receives  from  me.  Our 
government  is  determined  to  use  all  precautions  to  prevent  specu- 
lations out  of  the  funds  sent  out  to  pay  to  Indian  tribes.  Very 
Respectfully  Your  Obt  Servt.  E.  RECTOR,  Supt  Ind  Affrs 

Hon  Hudson,  Chief  Choctaw  Nation. 


326     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  WAR  DEPARTMENT 
Office    of    Indian    Affairs,    Richmond,    Feby    yth    1862. 
MAJOR  E.  RECTOR,  Superintendent  of  Ind.  Affairs. 
Fort  Smith,  Arkansas. 

Sir:  Your  two  letters,  dated  January  gth  &  loth,  have  been 
received.  The  former  gave  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts,  in  relation 
to  the  arrest,  by  Agent  Leeper,  of  one  Meyer,  supposed  to  be  a  spy, 
with  $6.455.70,  in  Drafts  and  Specie  upon  his  person,  and  enclosed 
copies  of  letters  from  Messrs  Leeper  and  Shirley,  bearing  upon  same 
subject.  The  latter  simply  covered  the  Affidavit  of  a  Mr.  Barnes, 
claiming  the  Drafts  referred  to,  followed  by  affidavits  of  Meyer  and 
one  Jacob  Mariner  intended  to  substantiate  it. 

The  questions  presented  in  this  case  should  properly  be  investigated 
by  Brig.  Genl.  Pike,  who  has  command  of  the  Department  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  where  this  person  was  arrested;  and  a  letter  has 
therefore  been  written  to  him  from  this  Bureau,  for  the  purpose  of 
calling  his  attention  to  the  fact. 

You  will  take  the  necessary  steps  to  have  the  man  Meyer  turned 
over  to  him.  Very  respectfully, 

S.  S.  SCOTT,  Act'g  Comr.  of  Ind.  Affairs. 

FORT  SMITH,  i6th  Feby  1862 
ELIAS  RECTOR  Esq,  Superintendent  of  Ind.  Affairs 

Sir:  As  to  the  case  of  Fredrick  Meyer,  arrested  as  a  spy,  there 
is  nothing  beyond  suspicion  against  him,  except  his  possession  of  certain 
drafts  drawn  by  a  U.  S.  Quartermaster  on  the  Assistant  Treasurer  at 
New  York,  and  the  Statements  of  Comanche  Indians,  who  are  not 
competent  witnesses. 

I  decline  to  place  him  in  custody  as  a  spy  or  to  order  a  Miltary 
Court  to  try  him.  I  cannot  order  his  discharge  or  the  return  of  the 
drafts  and  money  taken  from  him,  because  the  Military  power  is 
silent,  within  the  limits  of  Arkansas,  in  the  presence  of  the  Court 
power,  as  to  reports  that  may  be  asserted  and  remedies  that  may  be 
pursued,  in  the  Courts.  If  I  had  the  power,  I  should  make  the  order. 

If  you  continue  to  hold  the  property  in  question,  or  to  detain  the 
party,  you  will  please  consider  that  you  do  it  on  your  own  authority. 
I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

ALBERT  PIKE,  Brig.  Genl.  Commr.  Ind.  Dept. 


Fort  Smith  Papers  327 

MOUTH  OF  CANADIAN,  2$d  Febr.  1862. 

MAJOR:  I  reached  this  place  last  night,  and  leave  this  morning. 
The  teams  furnished  me  at  Fort  Smith  are  hardly  able  to  go  further, 
and  our  progress  must  be  slow.  I  shall  hardly  reach  Spaniard's  Creek 
before  tomorrow  night,  and  wish  you  to  meet  me  there.  I  did  think 
of  sending  the  money,  at  least  the  specie,  direct  from  this  point  to 
North  Fork,  but  have  determined  to  keep  it  with  me  until  I  meet 
you.  If  you  will  meet  me  at  Spaniard's  Creek,  we  can  then  determine 
what  disposition  to  make  of  it. 

Gen.  Price  is  at  Walnut  Grove,  eight  miles  south  of  Fayetteville ; 
will  take  position  near  Cane  Hill,  and  means  to  attack  as  soon  as 
he  gets  5,000.  men  in  addition  to  his  present  force.  McCulloch  is 
on  the  telegraph  road,  to  his  right.  They  are  not  acting  in  harmony, 
Col.  Gatewood  says. 

Our  forces  in  Kentucky  and  Tennesse  have  had  to  fall  back 
before  70,000  of  the  enemy.  The  new  position,  it  is  expected,  will 
be  at  Stevenson  and  Charleston  road.  When  the  enemy  took  Fort 
Donelson,  both  Bowling  Green  and  Columbus  became  of  value  to 
us.  Each  position  was  carried.  But  we  have  only  taken  a  new 
position,  losing  no  battle.  The  fort  surrendered.  Columbus  is  or 
will  be  evacuated  and  Nashville  surrendered. 

There  are  no  means  of  crossing  the  Arkansas  here,  except  one  boat, 
that  must  have  a  bottom  put  in  it.  I  must  bring  at  least  part  of  the 
Choctaws  to  Gibson,  to  cross  the  river  and  move  towards  Cane  Hill, 
and  in  order  to  be  able  to  do  it  as  soon  as  possible  I  wish  to  turn 
over  the  money  to  you.  Truly  yours  ALBERT  PIKE 

Major  Elias  Rector. 

OFFICE  SUP'T  IND.  AFF'RS,  Fort  Smith,  Feb'y  28th,  1862. 
SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  2^d  ultimo  notifying  me  that  the  sum  of  $3,000 -had  been  placed 
to  my  credit  in  the  Treasury  on  Requisition  No.  23  from  the  War 
Department  subject  to  my  Draft  and  request  my  official  signature 
which  is  hereto  affixed.  Very  Respectfully  your  Ob't  Serv't. 

E.  RECTOR,  Sup't  Ind.  Aff'rs. 

E.  C.  Elmore  Esq.,  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States 
Richmond,  Va. 


328     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

OFFICE  SUP'T  IND.  AFFAIRS,  Fort  Smith,  Feb'y  28th,  1862. 
SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  Jany  1st  accompanying  Tabular  Statements  sent  out  by  Gen'l 
Pike.  On  his  arrival  here  I  was  absent  in  the  Indian  Country  where 
I  had  been  ordered  by  him  to  meet  a  Delegation  of  wild  Comanches 
and  Kiawas.  Genl  P —  did  not  leave  the  money  here  to  be  paid 
over  to  me  but  tuck  it  in  the  Indian  Country  to  his  head  quarters, 
where  he  will  I  presume  pay  it  out  to  the  Indians  himself.  Very 
Respectfully,  your  ob't  Serv't.  E.  RECTOR,  Sup't  Ind  Affairs. 

S.  S.  SCOTT  Esq.  Acting  Com'r  Ind.  Affairs,  Richmond,  Va. 

[Rector  to  Scott] 

OFFICE  SUPT  IND.  AFFAIRS,  March  4th,  1862. 

SIR:  I  deem  it  my  duty,  in  justice  to  myself,  as  well  as  my  duty 
to  the  government  to  notify  you  that  Gen'l  Pike  has  been  paying  over 
certain  of  the  funds  sent  out  by  him  to  the  Indians,  one  payment 
which  he  has  made,  I  wish  here  to  enter  my  protest  against  as  not 
meeting  with  my  approbation,  it  was  in  paying  over  to  Agent  A.  J. 
Dorn  the  specie  sent  out  for  the  Indians  in  his  Agency.  My  objec- 
tions to  said  payment  are  these:  Agent  Dorn  has  never  executed  a 
Bond  to  the  Confederate  government  for  the  faithful  accounting  for 
of  funds  placed  in  his  hands,  and  I  should  certainly  not  turn  over 
large  amounts  of  government  funds  to  any  Agent  in  my  Department 
until  he  first  gave  a  good  and  sufficient  Bond  and  next;  the  Agency 
which  Mr.  Dorn  fills  is  in  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Kansas  and  has 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  Federals  for  six  or  seven  months,  Dorn 
cannot  even  get  to  it,  he  has  no  fixed  locality  for  his  Agency  some- 
times he  is  with  the  army,  at  others  in  the  State  and  is  now  here  at 
this  place  and  has  with  him  the  money. 

I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  this  money  should  have  been  kept 
in  some  safe  place  in  this  State  until  after  our  present  troubles  are 
over.  The  Federal  army  is  now  invading  within  fifty  miles  of  this 
place  and  between  him  and  the  Indians  for  whom  Dorn  is  Agent, 
which  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  pay  it  to  them  if  he  so  intends. 

None  of  the  Agents  in  this  Superintendency  have  entered  into 
Bond.  Nor  do  I  know  whether  they  intend  to  do  so  except  Agent 
Rutherford  he  came  here  from  his  Agency  a  few  days  since  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  his  Bond  but  is  now  on  a  bead  of  sickness  from 
which  it  is  doubtful  if  he  ever  recovers.  ELIAS  RECTOR.589 


589  The  wrjter  of  this  letter  was  evidently  Elias  Rector,  although  the  docu- 
ment from  which  this  copy  was  made  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Albert  Pike. 


APPENDIX  B-THE  LEEPER590  OR  WICHITA 
AGENCY  PAPERS 

OFFICE  SUPT.  INDIAN  AFFAIRS,  Fort  Smith,  Oct.  i2th,  1861. 
SIR:     I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  I5th 


sao  The  history  of  the  collection  that  I  have  designated  for  convenience  of 
reference,  the  Leeper  Papers,  is  outlined  in  the  following  letter  from  F.  John- 
son, Delaware  Indian  Agent,  to  Dole,  January  20,  1863  [Indian  Office,  General 
Files,  Wichita,  1862-1871,  J6z]. 

On  or  about  the  first  of  September  last  a  company  of  Delaware  & 
Shawnee  Indians  numbering  ninety-six,  seventy  Delawares  and  twenty- 
six  Shawnees,  left  Kansas  on  an  expedition  southwest  from  Kansas  un- 
der the  leadership  of  Ben  Simon  a  Delaware  Indian. 

He  reports  that  the  expedition  traveled  to  the  Neosho  River  in  south- 
ern Kansas  where  they  halted  a  few  days.  From  thence  they  marched 
in  a  southwest  direction  seventeen  days  to  the  leased  district  in  Texas, 
they  then  traveled  up  the  Wichita  River,  one  day  to  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Wichita  Agency.  Simon  then  sent  Spies  and  Scouts  to  the  Agency 
who  reported  two  hundred  Indians  well  armed  at  the  Agency  in  the 
Service  of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  On  receiving  this  intelligence  the 
Delawares  &  Shawnees  immediately  preceded  to  the  Agency  which  they 
reached  about  sundown.  On  arriving  at  the  Agency  they  surrounded 
the  buildings  when  the  Agent  a  man  large  sized  with  black  hair  came 
out  of  the  house  and  asked  them  what  was  wanting.  Simon  replied  to 
him  that  he  was  his  prisoner.  At  the  same  instant  the  Indians  rushed 
into  the  house  when  one  of  the  Delawares  was  shot  dead  and  a  Shawnee 
wounded  -  there  was  four  white  men  at  the  Agency;  when  the  Indians 
saw  their  comrades  killed  and  wounded  they  killed  the  three  men  in  the 
House  and  Agent  Leeper  who  Simon  had  hold  of  at  the  door -the  In- 
dians then  took  possession  of  the  Property  and  papers  belonging  to  the 
Agency  and  burned  the  buildings.  On  the  next  morning  they  found 
the  trail  of  the  Indians  who  had  escaped  from  the  Agency  and  followed 
it  to  a  grove  of  timber  and  found  as  they  supposed  about  one  hundred 
&  fifty  Indians  a  part  of  whom  was  women  and  children  whom  they 
attacked  and  report  they  killed  about  one  hundred  the  Ballance  making 
their  escape.  The  Delawares  and  Shawnees  then  turned  homewards 
with  their  Booty  which  consisted  of  about  One  hundred  Ponies  Twelve 
hundred  Dollars  Fn  Confederate  Money,  the  papers  correspondence  etc. 
which  is  wrapped  in  a  rebel  Flag  taken  at  the  Agency  Among  the 
papers  taken  I  would  respectfully  call  your  attention  to  the  treaties  in 


330     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

inst.  by  Expressman  Sturm  591  at  Tahlequah  C.N.  while  on  public 
business  at  that  place  on  the  2nd  inst  and  in  answer  must  say. 

Your  requisition  for  Medicine  I  cannot  comply  with.  I  have  no 
Medicines  on  hand  for  the  Indian  Service.  Neither  have  I  been 
instructed  to  furnish  either  Medicines  or  Medical  assistance  to  the 
Indians,  and  if  I  were  disposed  to  take  the  responsibility  and  advance 
the  funds  to  purchase  Medicines  they  could  not  be  procured  at  this 
place. 

I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  Buffalo  Hump  came  in  to  see  you,  but 
both  myself  &  Corn1".  Pike  regret  that  you  did  not  hold  out  to  him 
all  the  inducements  which  were  in  your  power,  and  use  all  the  forces 
and  means  at  your  command  to  provide  him  with  such  houses  as  were 
contemplated  and  promised  by  Comr.  Pike  for  the  comfort  of  those 
Indians  and  to  make  them  satisfied  and  anxious  to  come  in. 

The  Comr.  has  issued  an  order  prohibiting  Jim  Ned  from  return- 
ing to  or  ever  occupying  any  portion  of  the  Leased  District  again, 
this  order  you  will  see  carried  out.  He  has  also  ordered  the 
Military  to  kill  Ned  should  they  find  him. 

No  blanks  have  been  furnished  to  the  office  as  yet.  Nor  have 
even  forms  been  purchased  for  the  vouchers,  abstracts  etc.  You  must 
rule  and  arrange  your  papers  as  best  you  can  for  the  present  as  I 
have  to  do  myself. 

I  have  turned  over  to  Mr.  Sturm  four  mules  turned  over  to  me 
as  mules  taken  from  you  by  Genl  Burrow.  I  obtained  them  with 
great  difficulty  in  bad  condition,  nearly  on  the  lift.  I  have  had  them 
three  or  four  weeks,  these  were  all  I  could  find  and  do  not  know 
whether  they  are  all  that  were  taken  from  you  or  not. 

manuscript  entered  into  between  Albert  Pike  Commissioner  on  the  part 
of  the  Confederate  States  and  the  diferent  Tribes  of  Southern  Indians 
as  also  the  commission  of  Mathew  Leeper  Indian  Agent  from  James 
Buchanan  President  of  the  United  States  dated  ist  of  February  1861. 

These  Indians  few  in  numbers  marching  upon  a  point  more  than 
five  hundred  miles  distant  furnishing  their  own  transportation  forage 
and  provisions  without  cost  to  the  Government  certainly  exhibits  a  great 
degree  of  Loyalty  daring  and  hardihood. 

591  J-  J-  Sturm,  commissary  for  the  Indians  of  the  Leased  District  [Rector 
to  Sturm,  July  i,  1861].  On  Oct.  3,  1861,  Sturm  reported  to  Leeper: 

I  arrived  here  over  a  week  ago,  and  have  been  waiting  for  Maj. 
Rector,  who  is  absent  making  a  Treaty  with  the  Cherokees,  and  other 
Tribes  at  Telequa.  .  .  No  talk  of  anything  but  war  here.  Price 
has  taken  Lexington,  Mo.,  he  took  and  killed  over  four  thousand  of 
Abe's  men,  with  a  great  deal  of  war  material.  .  . 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  331 

As  stated  above  I  have  received  no  funds  for  the  Indian  Service 
from  the  Confederacy,  in  fact  there  has  been  no  Indian  Department 
organized  consequently  no  appropriation  has  been  made  nor  will  any 
Indian  business  be  done  in  the  War  Department  until  after  the  late 
Treaties  are  submitted  and  approved. 

I  shall  leave  here  in  a  short  time  for  Richmond  for  the  purpose 
of  organizing  the  business  of  the  Superintendency,  procuring  funds, 
goods  etc.  for  the  Indians  in  compliance  with  the  Stipulations  of  the 
late  Treaties. 

C.  B.  Johnson  is  absent  at  New  Orleans  and  is  expected  back  in 
a  few  days. 

Enclosed  you  will  find  Sutton  &  Springs  receipt  for  $200. 

Owing  to  Creek  difficulties  I  send  Mr.  Sturm  back  by  direct  route 
for  his  safety  and  the  safety  of  your  property.  Very  Respectfully 
Your  Ob't.  Servant  E.  RECTOR,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs. 

Col.  M.  Leeper,  Ind.  Agent,  Wichita  Agency,  L.D. 

OFFICE  SUPT.  IND.  AFFAIRS,  FORT  SMITH,  ARKS. 

Oct.  soth,  1 86 1. 

SIR:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  2ist 
inst.  by  Expressman. 

On  the  1 2th  Inst,  I  wrote  you  by  your  expressman  Mr.  Sturm 
and  as  then,  state  I  have  no  funds  in  my  hands  for  the  purchase  of 
Medicines  or  for  any  other  purpose  for  the  Indian  Service.  Nor 
have  I  been  authorized  to  provide  the  Indians  with  Medicines  or 
Medical  assistance;  there  has  been  no  Indian  Department  regularly 
organized  as  yet,  by  our  Government,  nor  will  there  be  until  after 
the  Treaties  lately  made  by  Comr  Pike  are  laid  before  the  President 
and  approved. 

I  have  purchased  for  you  on  your  own  account,  all  the  medicines 
I  can  purchase  in  this  place  that  would  be  useful  to  the  Indians.  I 
send  them  by  your  Expressman  with  the  bills,  you  can  charge  the 
Government  with  them  in  your  account. 

I  am  pleased  to  learn  that  the  Kiowa  Indians  are  likely  to  come 
in  and  make  a  treaty.  Comr  Pike  cannot  possibly  be  there  to  treat 
with  them  for  some  months  to  come,  the  treaties  made  by  him  with 
the  Comanches  places  all  of  those  Indians  who  may  hereafter  come 
in  on  the  same  footing  with  those  who  entered  into  treaty  stipulations, 
and  I  hereby  authorize  you,  as  I  have  authority  to  do  from  Comr 
Pike,  to  make  the  same  treaties  and  hold  out  the  same  inducements 


332     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

to  the  Kiowas  as  were  made  by  him  with  the  Comanches,  do  not,  how- 
ever, promise  them  blankets  this  winter  as  it  would  be  impossible  to 
procure  them,  the  Government  cannot  procure  a  sufficiency  of  them  for 
the  Soldiers,  not  even  at  the  most  exorbitant  prices.  Agents  are  travel- 
ing over  the  States  purchasing  second  hand  blankets  from  families  who 
take  them  off  their  beds  to  accomodate  the  Soldiers  in  the  field. 

H.  L.  Rogers  is  now  on  his  way  to  your  agency  with  hands  to 
build  houses  for  the  Indians,  he  is  sent  out  by  Comr.  Pike  on  his 
responsibility.  I  wrote  you  by  him. 

Gen'l  Pike  will  have  command  of  the  Military  Department  of 
the  Indian  Country.  He  is  now  on  his  way  to  Richmond  Va.,  when 
he  will  [return]  I  am  not  advised,  it  will  be  with  him  to  direct  what 
military  force  will  be  placed  at  Fort  Cobb  for  the  protection  of  your 
agency,  when  that  protection  will  be  furnished  I  am  unable  to  advise 
you,  of  the  importance  of  an  efficient  force  being  stationed  there  at 
an  early  day  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

In  regard  to  the  Mail  or  Express  arrangements  you  speak  of,  I 
must  say  I  have  neither  power,  authority,  or  means  to  establish  mail 
or  express  routes  to  your  agency  or  elsewhere.  Our  State  and  other 
States  are  suffering  greatly  for  want  of  mail  facilities,  and  I  cannot 
involve  myself  pecuniarily  in  the  matter,  this  matter  must  be  brought 
regularly  before  the  Department  and  its  action  had. 

In  regard  to  the  time  when  you  may  expect  funds  to  close  your 
accounts  I  can  only  say  that  you  need  not  expect  funds  until  after  the 
treaties  recently  made  are  ratified  and  appropriations  made  in  accord- 
ance with  your  estimates  furnished  Comr  Pike,  the  Government 
will  not,  of  course,  send  out  funds  for  Indians  until  it  is  advised  that 
it  has  some  treaty  relations  with  them,  I  will  leave  here  on  the  yth 
day  of  next  month  for  Richmond  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the 
organization  of  our  Indian  business,  and  for  the  procurement  of 
funds,  goods,  etc,  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  late  treaties,  on 
my  return  you  will  be  advised  of  the  result  of  my  mission. 

I  learn  from  Mr.  C.  B.  Johnson  that  you  had  advised  him  that 
Mr.  Beckle  is  acting  as  Commissary,  this  is  wrong  and  is  calculated 
to  produce  confusion  in  the  accounts.  Mr.  Sturm  is  the  recognized 
commissary  regularly  appointed  by  me,  he  should  not  be  sent  away 
from  his  regular  duties  on  any  other  business  and  I  so  informed  him 
while  here  and  notified  him  that  his  absence  from  his  regular  duties 
on  another  occasion  would  be  sufficient  cause  for  me  to  remove  him 
and  appoint  his  successor,  the  appointment  of  commissary  belongs 


Wichita  Agency  Papers 333 

exclusively  to  me,  and  you  are  well  aware  of  the  importance  of  his 
being  constantly  at  his  post,  as  he  is  the  check  on  the  contractor  in 
filling  the  requisitions  of  the  agent.  In  future  I  hope  he  will  not 
be  detailed  for  any  other  duties.  Mr.  Sturm  is  and  will  continue  to 
be  Commissary  until  removed  by  me  either  upon  charges  or  such  cause 
as  I  may  think  requires  his  removal.  Very  respectfully,  Your  Ob't. 
Serv't,  E.  RECTOR,  Supt.  Ind.  Affairs. 

Col.  M.  Leeper,  Indian  Agent,  Wichita  Agency,  L.D. 

The  bearer  of  this  letter,  Capt.  H.  L.  Rogers,  has  been  employed 
and  empowered  by  Genl  Pike  Commissioner  with  plenary  powers,  to 
proceed  to  the  Wichita  Agency,  with  hands,  to  erect  buildings  neces- 
sary for  the  Commissary  and  cabins  for  the  Indians,  Commissioner 
Pike  becomes  responsible  for  the  work.  .  .-RECTOR  to  Leeper, 
dated  Fort  Smith,  October  25,  1861. 

SUBPOENA 592 

Confederate  States  vs.  Matthew  Leeper,  Indian  Agt,  Comanche,  et  al. 
State  of  Arkansas,  The  Confederate  States  of  America. 

To  J.  J.  Sturm  —  Greeting.  You  are  hereby  commanded,  that 
laying  all  manner  of  excuses  aside,  you  be  and  appear  before  the 
undersigned,  special  commissioner  of  C.S.A.  at  the  Law  Office  of 
James  P.  Spring,  in  the  City  of  Fort  Smith,  in  the  County  of 
Sebastian,  and  State  of  Arkansas,  on  the  loth  day  of  January,  1862. 
Then  and  there  to  testify  and  the  truth  to  speak  in  a  certain  matter 
before  said  Commissioner  pending,  wherein  The  Confederate  States 
of  America  prefers  certain  charges  against  Matthew  Leeper,  Indian 
Agent  of  Comanche  and  other  reserved  Indians  west  of  the  State  of 
Arkansas,  and  on  behalf  of  the  C.S.A. 

Herein  fail  not  at  your  peril. 

In  testimony  whereof  I,  James  P.  Spring,  Commissioner  of  Exami- 

592  These  two  brief  communications  have  a  bearing  upon  Leeper's  case: 
You  are  hereby  ordered  to  remain  at  Fort  Smith  Arkansas  from 
loth.  January  1862  untill  further  ordered  by  the  undersigned,  as  a 
witness  in  the  case  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  against  M. 
Leeper,  Ind.  Agt.  on  certain  charges  preferred.  -  JAMES  P.  SPRING,  com- 
missioner, to  J.  J.  Sturm,  dated  Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  December  22,  1861. 

Spring  may  not  be  able  to  begin  on  Leeper's  case  before  Jan.  20- 
Is  obliged  to  leave  city.  If  Leeper  wants  while  Spring  is  away,  [to  go] 
to  Fayetteville,  he  may  &  Spring  will  telegraph  him  upon  his  return.  - 
SPRING  to  Leeper,  dated  Fort  Smith,  Ark.,  December  23,  1861. 


334     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

nation,  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  my  private  seal  [there 
being  no  public  seal  for  such  purposes  provided]  in  ,the  City  of  Fort 
Smith,  this  1 2th.  day  of  November,  1861. 

JAMES  P.  SPRING,  [Seal],  Commissioner  of  Examination,  C.S.A. 

QUESENBURY 593  TO  LEEPER 

Gen.  Pike  is  now  in  Richmond.  I  am  engaged  in  building  winter- 
quarters  for  his  Brigade.  The  General  will  probably  return  about 
the  loth  of  December. 

I  hope  you  will  honour  my  requisitions  for  forage  for  the  animals 
of  the  expedition  for  the  blankets  at  Mr.  Shirley's.  The  trip  will 
be  a  hard  one,  and  I  fear  a  long  one. 

There  is  no  news  of  import  from  my  quarter.  There  was  some- 
thing of  an  occurrance  in  the  Ho-poieth-le  Yohola  imbroglio  the  other 
day.  Mr.  Scrimpsher  can  give  you  the  current  particulars.  .  . 

FORT  SMITH,  Dec  4,  1861. 

DR.  SIR: -We  have  no  late  news  of  importance.  The  Federal 
troops  30000  strong  came  as  far  as  Springfield  and  fearing  to  advance 
further  returned  to  St.  Louis  &  Kansas;  the  Kansas  party  took  from 
the  vicinity  of  Springfield  600  negroes  from  Union  men  as  well  as 
Secessionists. 

A  heavy  battle  was  fought  in  Mo.  opposite  Columbus  a  few  days 
since.  Pillow  commanded  the  Confederate  forces  2500  strong,  the 
Federals  came  down  in  their  gun-boats  7000  strong  &  landed.  The 
fight  lasted  4  hours  with  heavy  losses  on  both  sides.  Pillow  was  then 
reinforced  and  drove  the  Federals  back  to  their  boats  making  a  perfect 
slaughter  of  the  Yankees.  Our  victory  was  complete  and  a  very 
important  one  it  was.  Price  has  gone  back  to  the  Mo.  River, 
McCulloch  is  bringing  his  army  down  here  to  go  into  winter  quarters 
on  the  Arks.  River. 

Hardin  is  marching  on  Louisville,  Ky.,  with  from  80  to  100,000 
Confederate  troops.  We  are  expecting  to  hear  of  his  having  posses- 
sion of  that  city  soon. 

McClellan  is  said  to  be  advancing  slowly  and  continuously  on 
Johnson  and  Boregard.  They  are  anxious  for  him  to  pay  them  a  visit. 

Our  legislature  has  elected  Bob  Johnson  &  Chas.  Mitchell 
Senators,  the  Washington  County  District  elected  Batson  over 

593  William  Quesenbury  to  Leeper,  dated  Fort  Gibson,  C.  N.,  Nov.  28,  1861. 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  335 

Thomason  to  Congress.     G.  D.  Royston  is  elected  in  this  District  and 
Judge  Hanley  in  the  Helena  District. 

Can't  think  of  anything  else  that  would  interest  you.  Your  friend 
in  haste,  R.  P.  PULLIAM. 

Col.  M.  Leeper. 

OFFICE  SUPT.  IND.  AFFAIRS,  FORT  SMITH,  Dec.  4th,  '61. 

SIR:  I  enclose  herewith  a  Copy  of  a  letter  from  Albert  Pike 
Comr.  etc.  to  Elias  Rector,  Supt.  Ind.  Aff.,  of  date  2ist.  ultimo  also 
two  official  letters. 

That  portion  of  Comr.  Pike's  letter  relating  to  inviting  the  Indians 
to  settle  on  the  Reserve  was  anticipated  by  Supt.  Rector's  letter  of 
instructions  to  you  of  the  3Oth  October  last. 

The  messages  which  Comr.  Pike  wishes  given  to  the  Indians  you 
will,  of  course,  deliver  to  them. 

Maj.  Rector  left  here  for  Richmond  about  ten  days  ago.  When 
he  will  return  I  am  unable  to  say,  as  it  seems  from  Pike's  letter  he 
has  to  purchase  and  bring  on  the  Indian  goods.  Very  respectfully, 

R.  P.  PULLIAM,  Clk. 
Col.  M.  Leeper,  Wichita  Agent. 

WICHITAW  FED  [FEED]  HOUSE,  December  loth  1861 
DEAR  CONL.  From  what  I  can  asertain  the  Dutchman  supposed 
to  be  a  spy  is  one  of  the  party  who  of  ten,  (five  Mexicans  &  five 
whites)  who  prevented  the  wild  Comanchees  from  coming  in  by 
telling  them  that  we  were  fixing  a  trap  to  destroy  the  last  one  of 
them,  when  we  got  them  here,  and  as  an  indusement  to  dispose  of 
their  Buffalo  Robes  this  party  told  the  Indians  that  we  would  take 
the  last  Robe  from  them  with  our  troops. 

The  [above]  I  was  informed  of  by  the  Comanche  Cheves  several 
days  ago  Very  truly  J.  SHIRLEY 

Col  M.  Leeper,  Wichitaw  Agency. 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.D.,  Deer  loth  1861 

A  memorandum  of  moneys  and  effects  found  on  the  person  of  a 
german  who  says  his  name  is  Frederick  Myer,  arrested  and  detained 
here,  he  being  suspected  of  being  a  spy  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  in  opposition  to  the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  indi- 
vidual together  with  the  moneys  and  property  found  upon  his  person 


336     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

is  intended  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs 
Fort  Smith  at  as  early  a  day  as  practicable 

Four  drafts  on  the  U.  S.  Asst.  Treasurer  New  York,  dated  at 
Santa  Fe  N.  M.  Sept.  I7th  1861  and  drawn  by  Jno  P.  Hatch  Capt. 
Rm  R.  Actg  C.  S.  in  favor  John  Dold  transferred  to  Frederick 
Myer,  viz.  — 

No  103.  Twelve  Hundred  &  fifty  dollars 
"  104.  Twelve  Hundred  &  fifty  dollars 
"  105.  Four  Hundred  &  Eighty  four  dollars 

106.     Two  Hundred  &  nineteen  50/100  dollars. 
Also  five  other  drafts  as  above  described  dated  on  the  iQth  Sept. 
1861.  viz;- 

No.  112.     Six  Hundred  dollars 
"    113.     Five  Hundred  dollars. 
"    114.     Four  Hundred  dollars 
"    115.     Three  Hundred  dollars 

1 1 6.     Two  Hundred  dollars. 

One  draft  dated  Sept.  i8th  1861  drawn  by  J  L  Donnevhen  P.  M. 
favor  Stephen  Bryce  or  order  transferred  to  Frederick  Myer 
No  1669.     Nine  Hundred  &  eighty  three  25/100  dollars. 
Also  in  Gold  One  Hundred  &  fifty  five  dollars 

Silver  Seventy  cents 
One  Colts  Revolver,  belt  &  Scabbard 
One  large  Pocket  Knife 

Also  found  in  his  possission  two  ponies  one  gray  and  one  sorrel 
Four  letters  addressed  as  follows, 

Mr.  J.  W.  Gregory  Santa  Fe  N.  M. 

Mr  B  Seligman 
Mr.  Geo.  T.  Madison 
Mr  W.  W.  Griffin 

Received  Wichita  Agency  L.  D.  Deer.  15  1861,  all  the  above  articles 
moneys  &c.  excepting  the  two  ponies  bridle  and  saddle  and  saddle 
bags,  large  knife  and  ten  dollars  in  gold  which  were  forwarded  by 
H.  L.  Rodgers  accompanying  the  prisioner,  all  of  which  balance  in 
my  possession  to  be  delivered  to  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs Fort  Smith  Arks.  M.  GRIMES 
Received  Fort  Smith  Dec.  gth  1861  from  M  Grimes  the  above  monies 
&  Pistol  as  per  his  Recpt  to  Col  Leeper 

E.  RECTOR,  Supt.  Indian  Affrs 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  337 

WICHITA  AGENCY  S.D.,  Deer.  i2th  1861 

SIR:  I  forward  to  your  charge  by  H.  L.  Rodgers,  a  german  by 
the  name  of  Frederick  Myer,  whom  I  arrested  as  a  spy  or  smugler 
in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  and  upon  whose  person  was  found 
Six  Thousand  three  hundred  dollars  in  drafts  upon  the  Assistant 
Treasurer  New  York,  one  hundred  and  fifty  five  dollars  in  gold  and 
seventy  cents  in  silver,  four  private  letters  of  unimportant  import, 
two  ponies  and  revolver  pistol  No  72,942  belt  and  hoster,  one  riding 
saddle,  one  pack  saddle  and  one  pair  saddle  bags,  all  of  which  will 
be  forwarded  to  you  by  Mr  Marshall  Grimes,  with  the  exception  of 
the  two  ponies  bridle  and  saddle  and  saddle  bags  and  ten  dollars  in 
gold,  which  I  have  placed  in  charge  of  Mr  H.  L.  Rodgers  and  will 
accompany  the  prisoner. 

The  principal  evidence  against  Frederick  Myer,  was  derived  from 
the  Trader  Mr.  John  Shirley,  whose  written  statement  is  herewith 
enclosed.  Very  Respectfully  Your  obt.  sert. 

M.  LEEPER,  Ind.  Agt.  C.S.A. 
Elias  Rector  Esq,  Supt.  Ind.  Affis, 
Fort  Smith  Arks. 

WICHITA  AGENCY,  L.D.  December  i5th  1861 
To  JOHN  JUMPER,  and  our  brothers  in  the  Seminole  Nation, 

We  have  nothing  particular  to  write  you,  we  are  all  well  and 
doing  well  here 

Since  we  had  the  talk  we  have  understood  that  you  had  some  diffi- 
culty among  your  people,  but  that  does  not  have  any  bad  effect  upon 
us  as  we  are  friends  the  same  as  at  the  time  we  made  the  treaties  - 
Our  brothers  the  Comanches,  and  all  the  other  tribes,  are  still  friends 
with  you,  and  are  all  very  sorry  that  you  are  fighting  one  against 
another,  brothers  against  brothers,  and  friends  against  friends.  When 
Mode  Cunard  and  you  were  here  and  had  the  talk  with  Genl  Pike  - 
we  still  hold  to  the  talk  we  made  with  Genl  Pike,  and  are  keeping 
the  treaty  in  good  faith,  and  are  looking  for  him  back  again  soon. 

We  look  to  you  and  Mode  Cunard  and  Genl  Pike  as  brothers - 
General  Pike  told  us  at  the  council  that,  there  were  but  few  of  us 
here,  and  if  anything  turned  up  to  make  it  necessary  he  would  protect 
them.  We  are  just  as  we  were  when  Genl  Pike  was  up  here  and 
keeping  the  treaty  made  with  him  -  Our  brothers  the  wild  Comanches 
have  been  in  and  are  friendly  with  us. 

All  the  Indians  here  have  but  one  heart  —  our  brothers,  the  Texans, 


338     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

and  the  Indians  are  away  fighting  the  cold  weather  people  we  do 
not  intend  to  go  North  to  fight  them  but  if  they  come  down  here, 
we  will  all  unite  to  drive  them  away  -  Some  of  my  people  are  one 
eyed  and  a  little  Crippled,  but  if  the  enemy  comes  here  they  will  all 
jump  out  to  fight  him -Also  that  Pea-o-popicult  has  recently  the 
principal  Kiowa  Chief  has  recently  visited  the  reserve,  and  has  ex- 
pressed friendly  intentions,  and  has  gone  back  to  consult  the  rest  of 
his  people  and  designs  returning 

HOSEEA  MARIA  BUFFALO  HUMP 

KI-KAD-A-WAH 

Chiefs  of  the  Comanches 

TE-NAH  JIM  POCKMARK. 

GEO  WASHINGTON 

The  Confederate  States  of  America 

To  M.  GRIMES  Dr. 

1861:  Nov  30  For  Services  rendered  of  negro  man 
Guss  as  Laborer  from  ist  Oct.  to 
3Oth  Nov  1 86 1,  inclusive,  2  mos. 
at  $300.00  pr.  an.  .  .  $  50.00 

Received  at  Wichita  Agency  L.D.  Deer  3ist  1861,  of  M.  Leeper  Ind. 

Agt.  C.S.A.     Fifty  dollars  in  full  of  the  above  account. 
$50.00  M.  GRIMES. 

I  certify  on  honor  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just,  and  that 
I  have  actually  this  3ist  day  of  Deer.  1861,  paid  the  amount 
thereof.  IND.  AGT.  C.S.A 

[Triplicates] 

The  Confederate  States  of  America 

To  A.  OUTZEN  Dr. 

1861:  Deer  31  For  Services  rendered  as  Wheel- 
wright etc.  at  Wichita  Agency, 
L.D.  from  ist  Oct.  to  3ist  Deer. 
1 86 1  inclusive,  3  months  at 
$600.00  pr  an  .  .  .  $  150.00 

Received  at  Wichita  Agency  L.D.  Deer  3 ist  1861  of  M.  Leeper, 

Indian  Agent,  C.S.A.  One  Hundred  &  fifty  00/100 
$150.00  A.  OUTZEN  Wheelwright. 

I  certify  on  honor  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just,  and  that 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  339 

I  have  actually  this  3ist  day  of  Deer  1861,  paid  the  amount  thereof, 
[Triplicates]  IND.  ACT.  C.S.A. 

The  Confederate  States  of  America 

To  J.  B.  BEVELL  Dr. 

1 86 1 :  Deer  31  For  Services  rendered  as  Laborer  at 
Wichita  Agency  L.D.  June  I 
Oct.  to  1 5th  Nov  1 86 1  -  inclusive 
i  mo  &  15  days  at  $300.00  pr  an  $  37.50 
And  as  Farmer  from  16  Nov  to  31 
Deer  1 86 1  inclusive  I  mo  &  15 
days  at  $600.00  pr  an  .  75-OO 


$  112.50 

Received  at  Wichita  Agency  L.D.  Deer  3ist  1861  of  M.  Leeper 
Ind.  Agt.  C.S.A.  One  Hundred  &  twelve  50/100  Dollars  in  full 
of  the  above  account. 

$112.50.  JOHN  BEVELL  Farmer 

I  certify  on  honor  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just,  and  that 
I  have  actually  this  3ist  day  of  Deer  1861,  paid  the  amount  thereof, 
[Triplicates]  IND.  AGT.,  C.S.A. 

The  Confederate  States  of  America 

To  D.  SEALS  Dr. 

1861:  Deer.  31  For  Services  rendered  as  Farmer  at 
Wichita  Agency  L.D.  from  ist 
Oct.  to  3 ist  Deer.  1861  inclusive, 
3  months  at  $600.00  per  an  .  $  150.00 

Received  at  Wichita  Agency  L.D.  Deer.  3 1st  1861  of  M  Leeper  In- 
dian Agent  C.S.A.  One  Hundred  &  fifty  00/100  Dollars  in  full 
of  the  above  account. 

$150.00  DAVID  SEALS,  Farmer 

I  certify  that  the  above  account  is  correct  and  just,  and  that  I  have 
actually  this  31  day  of  Deer  1861,  paid  the  amount  thereof, 
[Triplicates]  IND.  AGT.  C.S.A. 

FORT  SMITH,  January  I3th,  1862. 

SIR:     In  compliance  with  your  letter  of  instruction  of  the  loth 
inst.  I  have  the  honor  to  present  in  detail  the  condition  of  affairs  con- 


34-O     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

nected  with  the  Wichita  Agency.     In  thus  presenting  my  report  I 
shall  attempt  to  be  governed  by  as  much  brevity  as  possible. 

In  detailing  the  affairs  of  the  people  in  my  charge  and  of  my  action 
in  reference  to  them  it  will  become  necessary  to  refer  not  only  to  the 
present  but  to  their  past  history  in  Texas.  There  was  a  time  in 
Texas  when  these  people  were  in  a  prosperous  and  happy  condition, 
and  they  advanced  as  rapidly  in  the  arts  of  civilization  during  that 
time,  perhaps,  as  any  people  ever  did.  But  evil  disposed  persons  in 
their  vicinity  and  those  not  far  distant  on  the  frontiers  of  Texas  be- 
came dissatisfied  with  their  locality  and  determined  to  disperse  and 
break  them  up.  They  continued  their  work  of  desolation  until  the 
indians  were  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes  and  seek  a  refuge  west 
of  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  Nations  on  the  Leased  District.  In 
doing  so  they  suffered  many  and  very  severe  losses  and  privations. 
Numbers  of  their  horses  and  cattle  were  driven  off  by  their  enemies 
and  many  things  useful  to  them,  were  necessarily  abandoned. 
Estimates  were  prepared  of  the  amount  of  damage  and  submitted  to 
the  original  United  States  Government  but  before  any  action  was 
taken,  the  government  dissolved  and  their  just  claims  consequently 
failed.  Therefore  permit  me  most  respectfully  to  suggest  the  pro- 
priety of  immediately  calling  the  attention  of  our  Government  and 
of  the  proper  Department  to  the  fact,  in  order  that  these  people  may 
obtain  adequate  remuneration.  In  reference  to  their  habitations,  they 
have  nothing  to  claim.  They  have  more  and  better  houses  than  they 
had  in  Texas.  The  Commanches  have  eight  or  ten  neatly  hewn  log 
cabins  with  good  chimneys.  Three  double  log  hewn  houses  with  good 
chimneys,  to  each  room  for  the  chief's  in  addition  to  a  number  of 
warm  comfortable  picket  houses  which  they  partly  built  themselves 
and  covered  with  grass. 

In  Texas  they  had  but  one  house  which  belonged  to  the  Chief,  in 
the  scramble  for  the  spoils  at  the  time  of  the  abandonment  of  Fort 
Cobb  by  the  federal  troops  they  were  not  altogether  behind  for  I 
have  observed  among  them  several  new  Sibley  tents  and  a  number  of 
new  common  tents.  The  Tonkahwas  have  warm  comfortable  houses 
made  of  poles  and  grass  such  as  they  had  in  Texas.  And  for  the 
chief  I  built  a  good  double  log  house  with  chimneys  to  each  room  and 
a  hall  or  passage  in  the  centre,  in  which  he  now  lives. 

The  Anahdahkoes  have  quite  a  number  of  comfortable  houses  con- 
sisting of  four  double  houses  with  chimneys  to  each  room,  passages 
in  the  centre  and  to  some  of  them  shed  rooms  attached.  The  re- 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  341 

mainder  consist  of  hewn  log  cabins  and  Picket  houses  such  as  they 
had  in  Texas  covered  with  grass.  The  Caddoes  also  have  quite  a 
number  of  houses  consisting  of  various  double  houses,  single  houses 
and  picket  houses. 

The  Witchitas  have  no  houses  except  such  as  they  have  built  for 
themselves  consisting  of  a  net  work  of  sticks  and  grass  but  they  are 
warm  and  comfortable.  They  are  not  decided  upon  a  permanent 
location  and  consequently  refuse  to  have  houses  built.  The  Tahwac- 
carroes,  Wacoes,  Ionics  and  Kechies  inhabit  the  same  kind  of  houses 
as  the  Witchitas  and  like  them  have  not  decided  upon  a  permanent 
location.  The  Shawnees  and  Delawares  all  have  good  comfortable 
cabins. 

In  February  last  whilst  at  Washington  I  closed  all  my  former  ac- 
counts with  the  department  of  the  Interior  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment and  estimated  for  the  first  and  second  quarter  of  1861  which 
estimates  amounted  to  13899  dollars  and  eighty-five  cents.  On  my 
way  to  the  Agency  in  the  Indian  Country  prepared  to  carry  out  the 
designs  and  expectations  of  the  government  I  was  arrested  by  one 
Burrow  who  represented  himself  to  be  a  general  on  the  part  of  the 
State  of  Arkansas,  who  examined  my  papers  and  took  from  me  one 
wagon  four  set  of  harness,  one  horse  and  seven  mules,  property  which 
had  been  purchased  by  the  United  States  government  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  Indians  in  my  charge,  all  of  which  has  been  subsequently 
returned  with  the  exception  of  two  of  the  mules.  After  the  wagon 
and  mules  were  taken  I  hired  transportation  and  proceeded  to  the 
Agency  where  I  found  the  Indians  in  a  high  state  of  excitement  and 
alarm;  their  fears  having  been  excited  by  a  Delaware  Indian  by  the 
name  of  Jim  Ned  and  other  evil  disposed  persons,  tattlers  and  tale 
bearers  who  are  apt  to  be  found  loitering  about  Indian  Reserves. 

In  reference  to  the  people  of  Texas,  I  succeeded  in  satisfying  them 
that  their  apprehensions  were  groundless,  let  several  contracts  for 
breaking  prairie  and  commenced  to  work  generally  in  accordance  with 
my  estimates  and  the  wishes  of  the  Department.  But  soon  after- 
wards my  state  (Texas)  seceded  from  the  Union  and  I  determined 
no  longer  to  act  as  a  federal  officer,  and  having  no  authority  to  act 
for  the  Confederate  States,  I  delivered  to  the  indians  all  the  property 
in  my  possession  which  was  held  in  trust  for  their  benefit  with  the 
exception  of  two  wagons  which  were  used  in  my  transportation,  which 
together  with  one  which  had  previously  been  loaned  to  the  Com- 
missary are  now  reported  on  my  property  rolls.  With  a  hope  to 


342     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

satisfy  the  indians  until  an  agent  should  be  appointed  by  the  Confed- 
erate States  (which  I  assured  them  would  soon  take  place)  I  ex- 
pended the  remainder  of  the  money's  in  my  hands  for  blankets  tobacco 
and  clothing  for  them,  they  being  in  a  destitute  condition,  occasioned 
principally  on  account  of  losses  sustained  by  their  goods  being  sunk 
in  the  Arkansas  River  and  by  the  fire  at  Fort  Smith.  The  goods 
were  intended  to  be  duplicated  and  money's  had  been  promised  for 
that  purpose  in  advance  of  their  regular  supply  of  goods  of  which 
the  indians  were  apprised. 

Upon  the  withdrawal  of  Texas  from  the  Union,  they  again  became 
apprehensive  of  danger  from  the  people  of  that  State.  I  reminded 
them  that  I  was  a  Texan,  and  in  order  that  they  might  have  a  positive 
guaranty  of  safety,  that  they  should  have  Texas  troops  to  defend  them. 
I  made  the  application  and  Capt.  Diamond's  company  arrived  on  the 
day  of  my  departure. 

During  the  whole  course  of  my  operations  as  Commanche  Agent, 
and  more  particularly  the  past  year,  my  best  efforts  have  been  em- 
ployed with  a  hope  to  induce  all  the  southern  bands  of  Comanches 
to  abandon  their  wandering  habits  become  colonized  and  settle,  that 
being  the  most  effectual  means,  and  by  far  the  least  expensive  mode 
of  checking  their  depredations  on  Texas,  and  finally  by  means  of 
messengers  and  messages  I  induced  them  to  come  in  on  the  first  of 
August  last  and  enter  into  treaty  stipulations  with  Commissioner 
Pike.  A  train  of  untoward  circumstances  prevented  the  commissioner 
from  complying  strictly  with  his  agreements  with  them  which  have 
cast  a  shade  of  discontent  upon  their  minds,  and  they  say  that  it 
is  the  cause  of  the  non-compliance  on  their  part,  which  was  to  settle 
on  the  reserve  last  fall  and  abandon  their  roving  habits.  This  how- 
ever I  do  not  believe:  if  the  commissioner  had  met  them  at  the  time 
appointed  (the  falling  of  the  leaves)  with  all  the  goods  promised  I 
am  of  opinion  they  would  have  received  the  goods  —  made  some  excuse, 
and  returned  again  to  the  prairies.  Such  has  been  the  case  of  the  other 
Comanches  who  have  settled  for  several  years  and  I  think  they  would 
have  done  so  too.  Perhaps  their  stealing  operations  would  not  have 
been  so  extensive;  but  they  say  that  that  practice  shall  cease  at  any 
rate  as  long  as  they  are  friends  with  us. 

In  November  last  I  received  a  visit  from  a  Kiowa  chief  by  the 
name  of  "Big-head"  who  made  many  fine  promises  and  agreed  to 
settle  on  the  reserve  with  his  people,  but  in  this  I  place  but  little 
reliance.  The  Kiowa's  are  a  very  numerous  band.  They  are  north- 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  343 

ern  indians  and  their  principal  range  is  from  the  sources  of  the  Arkan- 
sas River  to  Bents  Fort.  Their  principal  chief  originally  contempti- 
ously  spoke  of  the  United  States  government  and  troops,  notwith- 
standing he  annually  received  a  large  amount  of  presents  from  that 
government,  consisting  of  blankets,  clothing,  tobacco,  rifles,  powder 
and  lead,  etc.  They  now  have  a  federal  agent  at  Bent's  Fort. 

During  the  past  six  months,  but  little  has  been  done  on  the  re- 
serve —  I  have  had  no  means  to  accomplish  much.  The  employees 
who  have  been  engaged  have  suffered  considerably  with  sickness  dur- 
ing the  months  of  September  and  October  last.  They  have  built  a 
very  comfortable  double  log  house  with  a  gallery  in  front  and  a 
stable  which  is  partly  finished  to  which  a  room  is  attached  for  the 
benefit  of  employees.  Without  such  protection  and  security  there  is 
no  safety  for  the  public  animals  necessary  to  carry  on  the  farming 
operations  of  the  reserve. 

No  troops  being  stationed  on  the  Leased  District  I  have  been  un- 
able to  exercise  the  necessary  control.  The  indians  have  been  kept 
in  a  constant  state  of  turmoil  by  false  representations  both  in  reference 
to  myself  and  things  affecting  their  individual  interest.  No  indian 
reserve  can  be  conducted  in  a  satisfactory  manner  either  to  the  gov- 
ernment or  indians  without  the  cooperation  of  troops  to  enable  the 
Agent  to  enforce  the  intercourse  laws  and  eject  disorderly  persons 
from  amongst  them. 

No  funds  as  yet  have  been  received  to  meet  the  current  expenses 
of  the  Agency,  nor  has  any  forage  been  furnished  except  twenty  four 
bushels  of  corn  and  twelve  of  oats,  which  were  received  from  Com- 
missioner Pike.  The  remainder  of  the  forage  which  was  used  in 
sustaining  two  government  animals  and  four  private  animals  employed 
in  the  public  service  from  the  first  of  August  until  the  last  of  October 
and  from  that  time  till  the  3ist  of  December  four  additional  public 
animals,  was  gathered  up  at  the  different  corn  houses  which  had  been 
abandoned  and  were  going  to  destruction  at  Fort  Cobb,  and  a  small 
amount  purchased  on  my  own  responsibility  from  the  contractor  for 
supplying  the  indians. 

It  is  deemed  useless  to  suggest  additional  plans  of  retrenchment 
and  economy  to  the  government  as  I  am  not  advised  as  to  the  extent 
and  nature  of  the  design  of  its  future  operations  in  reference  to  the 
affairs  of  the  reserve.  With  these  facts  submitted  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  Sir  very  respectfully  Your  obedient  Servant  [M.  LEEPER.] 
E.  Rector,  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  Southern  Superintend- 

ency 


344     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

WITCHITA  AGENCY,  Jan.  3ist.,  1862. 
BRIG.  GEN'L  A.  PIKE,  Com'd'y  Indian  Territory. 

Sir :  —  Enclosed  please  find  muster  roll  of  Reserve  Indians  enlisted 
in  the  services  of  the  Confederate  Government  under  your  authority 
of  the  3Oth  Aug't,  1861  to  M.  Leeper,  Indian  Agent,  to  act  as  spies 
and  for  the  protection  of  the  Agency  until  relieved  by  Confederate 
forces. 

You  will  perceive  that  I  enlisted  them  on  the  Qth  Sept.  last  and 
have  made  up  the  roll  to  the  9th  Feb'y>  1862,  at  which  time  I  would 
respectfully  suggest  the  disbandment  of  them  as  they  have  already 
served  three  months  longer  than  they  anticipated  at  the  time  of  their 
enlistment  and  they  are  anxious  to  be  disbanded  at  the  expiration  of 
this  month. 

As  much  doubt  has  been  expressed  by  the  other  Indians  not  en- 
listed, of  these  ever  receiving  pay  for  their  services,  I  believe  if  they 
were  paid  off  [it]  would  at  once  convince  them  of  the  integrity  and 
honor  of  the  Confederate  Government  and  should  any  emergency 
hereafter  arise  they  will  more  readily  flock  to  the  standard  of  our 
country. 

Having  received  special  instructions  from  M.  Leeper,  Indian 
Agent,  to  remain  at  my  post  during  his  absence,  I  therefore  forward 
these  papers  by  Mr.  John  Shirley  and  authorize  him  to  act  for  me  in 
this  matter. 

MUSTER  ROLL  OF  RESERVE  INDIANS  MUSTERED  IN- 
TO THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA  UNDER 
COMMAND  OF  LIEUT.  GEN'L  H.  P.  JONES, 
SEPT.  9,  1861. 

HORSE  BRIDLE  &  SADDLE    RIFLE  Bow,  ETC. 

1.  Pinahontsama,   Sergt.  $60.  $5.00  $25.  $5.00 

2.  Pive-ahope  Corpl.  $60.00  $5.00  do.  5.00 

3.  Chick-a-poo                      30.00  5.00  25.00  5.00 

4.  Charley  Chickapoo          30.00  5.00  25.00  5.00 

5.  Somo                                40.00  5.00  10.00  5.00 

6.  Boo-y-wy-sis-ka                50.00  5.00  25.00  5.00 

7.  Cu-be-ra-wipo                  50.00  5.00  25.00  5.00 

8.  Ca-na-with                        40.00  5.00  25.00  5.00 

9.  A-ri-ka-pap                       55-OO  5.00  25.00  5.00 

10.  Pith-pa- wah  50.00         5.00  5.00 

11.  Pe-ah-ko-roh  35-OO         5.00  35-OO         5.00 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  345 


HORSE  BRIDLE  &  SADDLE  RIFLE  Bow,  ETC. 

12.  Jim  Chickapoo 

65.00 

5.00 

six  shooter  25.00 

5.00 

13.  Na-na-quathteh 

40.00 

5.00 

5.00 

14.  To-no-kah 

80.00 

5.00 

25.00 

5.00 

15.  Ath-pah 

25.00 

5.00 

Pistol  #5.00 

5.00 

1  6.  Pe-ba-rah 

30.00 

5.00 

25.00 

5.00 

17.  Cur-su-ah 

45.00 

5.00 

10.00 

5.00 

1  8.  Cow-ah-dan  Sept.23d. 

$60. 

5.00 

15.00 

5.00 

Signed  Sealed  &  delivered  in  the  presence  of  David  Seals  &  Dr. 
Bucket,  Sept.  9,  1861. 

WICHITA  AGENCY  L.  D.  Feby  the  gth  1862 
I  certify  on  honor  that  I  have  received  from  Messrs  Johnson  & 
Grimes  Seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-four  rations  of  Beef,  Flour, 
Coffee,  Sugar,  Soap,  and  Salt  for  the  use  of  my  Spy  Company  raised 
for  the  protection  of  the  Wichita  Agency  by  authority  of  Commis- 
sioner A.  Pike  as  per  letter  dated  Augt.  3Oth  1861  to  M.  Leeper 
Indian  Agent  H.  P.  JONES,  Lt.  Com'd'y.  and  Act'g  C.  of  S. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  DEP'T  OF  IND'N  TERRITORY, 
FORT  McCuLLOCH,  23rd  April  1862. 
SPECIAL  ORDERS,  No.  - 

Lieut.  Col.  Harris,  Commanding  Chickasaw  Battalion,  will  sta- 
tion four  companies  instead  of  two,  of  his  Battalion,  at  Camp  Mcln- 
tosh,  and  two  only  at  Fort  Arbuckle.  He  will  consult  with  the  Agent 
for  the  Reserve  Indians,  Col.  Matthew  Leeper,  and  do  everything  in 
his  power  to  protect  the  Agency  and  the  peaceful  Indians  on  the  Re- 
serve, placing,  if  necessary  his  troops  at  or  near  the  Agency,  and  con- 
trolling the  unruly  Indians,  by  force  of  arms,  if  it  becomes  necessary. 
By  order  of  Brig.  Gen'l  Com'd'g 

FAYETTE  HEWITT  A.  A.  General 

[Copy]  May  7,  1862. 

Hon.  Comr.  Indian  Affairs,  enclosing  copies  from  Gen'l  Pike. 

WASHITA  AGENCY,  L.D.  May  7,  1862. 

SIR:  Enclosed  herewith  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  for  the  in- 
formation of  the  Department  the  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  Gen'l 
Pike  on  the  1 3th  April  last,  and  his  reply  thereto;  the  troops  promised 
by  the  General  have  not  arrived  nor  have  I  any  tidings  from  them. 

There  can  be  no  question,  if  the  Confederate  States  desire  to  keep 
up  this  Agency  and  to  continue  their  friendly  relations  with  the  In- 


346     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

dians  adjacent  to  the  Reserve,  that  a  strong  garrison  is  necessary. 
The  appearance  of  friendship  could  be  maintained  perhaps  without 
it,  but  to  put  an  entire  stop  to  the  depredations  upon  Texas,  cannot 
be  accomplished  without  the  restraining  influence  of  a  military  force; 
a  small  force  at  all  times  here  is  necessary  to  enable  the  Agent  to 
enforce  the  Intercourse  Laws,  and  to  expell  from  the  Reserve,  dis- 
orderly persons  and  idlers,  hovering  around  the  Indian  Camps  with- 
out any  legitimate  business  or  employment.  I  would  further  respect- 
fully suggest  with  all  due  deference  to  the  military  skill  of  Gen. 
Pike,  that  white  troops  would  be  infinitely  better  and  far  more  avail- 
able in  every  particular  than  Indians.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
people  of  Texas  adjacent  to  the  Reserve  have  no  very  kind  feelings 
for  Indians  generally,  and  if  it  should  become  necessary  to  exercise 
military  authority  over  a  Texan  no  matter  who  he  is  or  however 
worthless  he  might  be,  if  it  was  done  by  Indian  soldiers,  it  would  en- 
gender deep-rooted  malice  in  the  minds  of  very  many  of  the  Texan 
people  against  the  troops,  which,  in  all  probability  would  militate 
largely  against  the  interest  of  the  Government.  White  troops  have 
a  greater  influence  upon  the  Indians  than  Indian  troops  would  have, 
and  understand  more  perfectly  the  obligations  of  enlisted  men. 

In  my  letter  to  Gen.  Pike,  I  gave  it  as  an  opinion  that  it  would  be 
better  to  either  drive  the  Indians  off,  who  are  not  located,  or  to  re- 
quire them  to  settle  on  the  Reserve.  Various  conversations  had  with 
them  since  that  time  has  been  the  means  of  changing  my  opinion;  I 
think  by  continuing  the  practice  of  giving  them  provisions  and  more 
supplies  of  presents  when  they  visit  the  Agency  will  perhaps  induce 
them  to  remain  quiet  and  not  disturb  Texas,  particularly  if  we  pre- 
sent an  array  of  troops  sufficiently  strong  to  chastise  them  in  the  event 
of  their  forfeiting  their  promises  and  acting  a  faithless  part.  To-day 
I  held  a  Council  with  some  of  the  wild  chiefs,  they  made  fair  prom- 
ises, and  promised  to  bring  to  the  Agency  on  the  2Oth  of  June  next, 
the  other  wild  chiefs  who  have  never  visited  this  place,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  entering  into  a  general  treaty  of  peace,  and  they  say  they  will 
use  all  their  influence  with  the  Kioways  to  restore  the  horses  lately 
stolen  from  the  Reserve  Indians  and  cause  those  to  treat  likewise.  If 
it  should  be  the  desire  of  the  Government  for  me  to  have  them  sign 
the  Treaty  with  such  amendments  or  alterations  as  may  be  suggested, 
there  would  not  be  the  slightest  difficulty  in  the  way,  it  can  be  accom- 
plished without  any  further  parade  or  expense,  except  the  ordinary 
supply  of  provision  and  a  few  small  presents  in  the  way  of  goods. 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  347 

Allow  me  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  Department  to  the  fact  that 
the  present  Contract  for  furnishing  rations  to  the  Indians  will  expire, 
I  am  told,  on  the  i6th  August  next,  (I  have  never  been  furnished 
with  a  copy)  and  that  it  will  be  necessary  in  order  to  give  satisfaction 
to  the  public  to  give  at  least  a  month's  notice  of  the  time  and  place,  a 
new  one  will  be  let  and  having  been  informed  that  the  next  Contract 
would  be  let  at  this  agency,  and  that  the  local  agent  would  be  charged 
with  the  duty,  I  deem  it  necessary  immediately  to  repair  to  Fort  Smith 
to  await  instructions  and  other  necessary  papers  in  reference  to  my 
official  station  and  to  receive  funds  for  the  present  and  to  forward  an 
estimate  for  the  ensuing  fiscal  year. 

May  8th. 

To-day  I  was  visited  by  quite  a  number  of  chiefs  belonging  to  the 
wild  Comanches  who  have  never  been  here  before.  They  say  they  * 
are  desirous  of  making  a  perpetual  and  ever-lasting  peace  with  the 
Southern  people,  the  fourth  of  July  is  appointed  for  a  general  gather- 
ing in  Council  of  all  the  Chiefs  and  principal  men  belonging  to  the 
Comanches  for  the  purpose  of  entering  into  a  general  and  lasting  peace 
upon  the  same  terms  and  conditions  which  are  offered  those  already 
settled.  I  appointed  the  4th  of  July  that  I  might  have  an  opportunity 
in  the  mean  time  of  consulting  with  and  ascertaining  the  pleasure  of 
the  Government  in  reference  to  them.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  three 
or  four  thousand  dollars  worth  of  goods  furnished  upon  that  occasion 
and  distributed  to  them  as  presents  would  have  a  beneficial  effect. 

I  learn  from  them  that  four  white  men  and  four  Indians  were 
recently  killed  on  the  Llano,  Texas  that  the  Indians  were  returning 
from  Mexico  &  without  knowing  anything  of  the  friendly  relations 
which  now  exist  between  our  people  and  theirs,  they  stopped  as  usual, 
stole  a  parcel  of  horses,  were  pursued  and  the  killing  aforementioned 
was  the  consequence,  they  assert  that  they  will  control  their  people 
hereafter  from  depredating  upon  Texas,  and  that  if  any  of  their  bad 
men  should  cross  Red  River  that  they  will  give  immediate  notice  of 
the  fact  that  they  may  be  overtaken  and  killed,  and  if  they  should 
escape  notice  steal  horses  and  return  they  will  immediately  take  them 
from  them,  deliver  them  to  the  Agent  with  information  in  reference 
to  the  place  from  which  they  were  taken,  so  the  owners  can  recover 
them  again. 

With  these  facts  submitted,  I  have  the  honor  to  be  very  respect- 
fully, Your  Obedient  Servant 

(Sgd.)  M.  LEEPER,  Indian  Agent,  C.S.A. 


348     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

COPY  TO  BRIG.  GEN'L  A.  PIKE,  APR.  13,  1862.  IN  REF- 
ERENCE TO  THE  CONDUCTING  OF  THE  RESERVE 
COMANCHES  AND  WILD  BANDS  OF  COMANCHES,  AL- 
SO REQUESTING  A  MILITARY  FORCE  TO  BE  STA- 
TIONED ON  THE  RESERVE 

WASHITA  AGENCY,  L.D.  April  13,  1862. 
BRIG.  GEN'L  A.  PIKE,  Com'd'g  of  Indian  Terr'y 

Sir:  It  becomes  my  duty  under  official  instructions  to  keep  you 
advised  of  the  feelings  and  bearings  of  the  Indians  on  the  Reserve 
and  more  particularly  of  the  wild  bands  adjacent  to  it  who  profess 
friendship  for  us.  The  recent  friendly  relations  which  have  been 
professed  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  and  attempted  to  be  cultivated 
on  our  part  have  produced  an  opposite  result  upon  the  Comanche 
Reserve  Indians  from  that  which  was  anticipated,  boys  who  have  been 
partly  reared  upon  the  Reserve  and  who  hitherto  have  conducted 
themselves  with  the  greatest  propriety  are  now  unruly  and  are  subject 
to  the  most  unbridled  passions  and  unheard  of  improprieties,  they 
have  destroyed  pretty  much  all  the  poultry  belonging  to  Dr.  Shirley, 
have  shot  arrows  into  his  milk  cows,  killed  several  of  the  beeves  be- 
longing to  the  contractor.  They  are  in  the  habit  of  shooting  beeves 
full  of  arrows  in  the  beef  pen  before  they  are  issued,  killing  some 
of  them  and  rendering  others  unable  to  be  driven  to  the  different  In- 
dian encampments,  this  practice  was  repeated  on  yesterday  in  the 
presence  of  the  chiefs,  when  one  of  the  interpreters,  Mr.  H.  P.  Jones, 
admonished  Buffalo  Hump  to  check  such  outrages  and  reprove  the 
boys  for  such  improprieties,  but  was  fiercely  turned  upon  by  the  old 
Indian  and  abused  in  the  most  unmeasured  terms,  the  boys  then  rode 
to  the  Agency,  approached  the  horse  lot  and  one  of  them  was  just  in 
the  act  of  shooting  a  horse,  I  succeeded  in  preventing  him  from  doing 
so  myself. 

Those  wild  fellows  come  in,  hold  war  dances  and  scalp  dances, 
speak  of  their  agility  in  stealing  horses  and  of  their  prowress  in  taking 
scalps  of  white  men  and  Mexicans,  and  of  the  rapture  with  which 
they  are  received  and  amorous  embraces  of  the  young  damsels  on  their 
return  until  the  young  men  heretofore  inclined  to  lead  an  idle  but 
civil  life  on  the  Reserve  are  driven  mad  with  excitement,  some  of 
them  have  left,  others  are  going  today  with  the  wild  Indians  for  the 
ostensible  purpose  I  am  told  of  depredating  upon  Mexico,  but  really, 
in  my  opinion  upon  Texas,  many  depredations  have  recently  been  com- 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  349 

mitted  upon  that  frontier,  and  lately  an  Anahdahko  Indian  and  a 
negro  belonging  to  that  band  crossed  Red  River,  stole  five  horses, 
killed  three  of  them  and  returned  home  on  the  other  two,  they  alledge 
that  it  would  not  have  taken  place,  but  for  the  want  of  the  restraining 
influence  of  the  Chief  who  was  absent  at  Fort  Davis  for  presents 
(this  is  a  mere  subterfuge  of  course). 

The  wild  Indians  are  principally  located  within  two  days  ride  of 
this  place  and  I  suppose  could  muster  two  thousand  warriors,  when 
they  come  here  they  are  rather  impudent  and  insolent  in  their  demands 
and  upon  one  occasion  threatened  to  force  the  doors  of  the  Commis- 
sary and  help  themselves.  A  few  days  since  three  of  their  young  men 
forcibly  opened  one  of  the  doors  of  Dr.  Shirley's  house  and  attempted 
to  enter  his  wife's  bed  chamber.  They  were  met  by  the  doctor  at 
the  door  who,  after  a  scuffle  and  slight  altercation  with  one  of  them 
caused  them  to  desist. 

Many  horses  have  recently  been  stolen  from  the  Reserve  Indians, 
some  of  which  are  known  to  have  been  taken  by  the  bands  professing 
friendship,  who  promised  to  restore  them. 

I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  this  Reserve  cannot  be  sustained 
without  a  strong  military  force,  and  that  it  would  be  much  better  to 
require  those  wild  fellows  either  to  settle  on  the  Reserve  or  quit  the 
country,  at  present  they  appear  to  make  it  a  place  of  convenience,  to 
rest,  feed  and  recruit  themselves,  on  their  return  from  a  stealing  ex- 
pedition, and  to  procure  provisions  and  a  suitable  outfit,  the  better  to 
enable  them  to  prosecute  their  fiendish  designs.  Therefore  permit  me 
respectfully  to  solicit  you  to  furnish  at  the  shortest  practicable  period 
a  strong  mounted  force,  say  one  Regiment  at  least  to  be  situated  here 
to  act  in  concert  with  the  Civil  Authorities  in  holding  those  Indians 
in  check,  preventing  the  forays  in  Texas  and  in  regulating  the  affairs 
of  the  Reserve.  I  would  also  with  due  deference  suggest  the  name 
of  Col.  Alexander  of  Sherman,  as  a  gentleman  eminently  qualified 
for  the  service.  Texas  troops  would  be  more  available  here  at  present 
than  any  others,  for  the  Indians  have  an  instinctive  dread  of  them. 

In  the  event  that  it  should  become  absolutely  necessary  in  the 
absence  of  suitable  protection  to  abandon  the  Reserve,  a  suggestion 
from  you  in  reference  to  the  proper  course  to  be  taken  would  be  ac- 
ceptable, my  notion  is  to  fall  back  upon  Red  River  or  into  Texas 
with  all  the  Indians  who  are  true  to  the  South  and  if  overtaken  by 
the  way,  defend  to  the  last  extremity. 


350     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

All  my  official  correspondence  I  report  to  the  Department  but 
before  I  could  get  an  expression  of  opinion  from  that  source,  it  would 
probably  be  too  late  to  avail  anything.  I  shall  feel  obliged  for  a  reply 
by  the  messenger.  Very  respectfully,  Your  obedient  servant. 

[M.  LEEPER] 
JONES  594  TO  PIKE 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  reserve  Comanche  Indians 
enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  Confederate  States  by  your  authority  of 
the  3Oth  August  1861  were  on  the  9th  April  last  disbanded  with  the 
consent  and  knowledge  of  Col.  M.  Leeper  indian  agent  The  reason 
for  so  doing  was  that  latterly  they  would  not  remain  at  their  encamp- 
ment and  their  horses  were  never  at  hand  when  wanted. 

JONES  595  TO  PIKE 

The  Indians  placed  in  my  charge  by  your  order  for  the  protection 
of  this  agency  finally  proved  uncontrollable  and  utterly  useless,  and 
were  therefore  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  Agent  dis- 
charged on  the  1 3th  of  April  last.  .  . 

[On  the  nth  of  August,  1862,  Agent  S.  G.  Colley  transmitted  to 
Dole  from  Fort  Larned  two  documents,596  one  of  which  he  thought 
reflected  upon  the  loyalty  or  honesty  of  Capt.  Whittenhall,  formerly 
commanding  at  Fort  Larned.] 

(A)  I  have  this  day  received  of  Lone  Wolf  a  chief  Kiowas  a 
paper  from  Albert  Pike  of  the  so-called  S.C.  which  I  will  give  to  him 
again  and  another  to  the  said  Albert  Pike  after  the  Indian  agent  shall 
distribute  the  goods  to  the  Indians. 

D.  S.  WHITTENHALL,  Capt.  Com'd'g  Post. 
July  22,  1862 

[Endorsement]  A  true  copy. 

J.  H.  LEAVENWORTH,  Col.  2nd  Reg't  C.V. 

(B)  WICHITA  AGENCY  L.D.,  May  3ist,  1862. 
The  bearer  E-sa-sem-mus  Kiowa  Chief  has  visited  and  promised 

on  the  part  of  their  tribe  to  be  friendly  with  the  people  of  Texas  and 

594  H.  P.  Jones,  late  lieutenant-commanding  to  Brigadier-general  A.  Pike, 
commanding  Indian  Territory,  dated  Washita  Agency  L.D.,  May  8,  1862. 

595  H.  P.  Jones  to  Pike,  dated  Washita  Agency,  May  8,  1862. 

596  Indian  Office,  Land  Files,  Upper  Arkansas,  1855-1865,  €1749. 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  351 

ourselves  it  is  hoped  that  so  long  as  they  carry  out  that  promise  they 
will  be  treated  kindly.  M.  LEEPER,  Ind.  Agt.  C.S.A. 

per  C.  A.  ZICHEL 
[Endorsement]  A  true  copy. 

J.  H.  LEAVENWORTH  Col.  2nd  Reg't  C.V. 

LEEPER  TO  PIKE 

WASHITA  AGENCY,  L.D.,  June  26,  1862. 
BRIG.  GEN'L  A.  PIKE,  Com'd'y  Ind.  Terr'y  and  Act'g  Superintendent. 

Sir:  Being  desirous  of  keeping  you  advised  of  all  my  official  oper- 
ations, enclosed  herewith  you  will  please  find  a  copy  of  requests  made 
by  Capts.  Hart  &  James.  I  found  those  officers  courteous  and 
prompt,  and  manifesting  an  unreserved  degree  of  willingness  to  aid 
me  in  carrying  out  the  designs  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America 
in  sustaining  the  Reserve  and  giving  satisfaction  to  the  Indians  located 
thereon. 

I  learn  that  an  annual  festival  or  dance  of  the  Kioways  and  the 
wild  Comanche  bands  is  expected  to  be  held  about  this  time,  which 
may  detain  them  beyond  the  4th  of  July,  and  with  a  view  to  have 
reliable  information  in  reference  to  the  matter  and  ascertain  the  pre- 
cise time  they  may  be  expected  here,  three  or  four  days  since  I  dis- 
patched To-sha-hua  and  Pinahontsama  to  visit  their  encampments 
for  the  purpose ;  they  will  return  in  about  six  days.  Upon  the  arrival 
of  the  Kioway  Chiefs  here,  I  shall  have  your  excellent  address  care- 
fully interpreted  to  them  and  get  them  to  sign  the  Treaty.  If  it 
should  be  your  pleasure  they  should  do  so,  I  apprehend  that  I  can 
take  all  the  Comanche  Chiefs  and  the  Kioway  Chiefs  to  your  Head 
Quarters,  which  I  will  cheerfully  do,  in  that  event  however  they 
would  naturally  expect  in  addition  to  their  daily  supply  of  food  a  few 
presents  in  the  way  of  clothing  and  tobacco. 

The  present  fiscal  year  is  now  within  a  few  days  of  being  closed, 
the  employees  on  the  Reserve  and  the  trader  from  whom  small  pres- 
ents have  been  purchased  for  the  Indians  are  unpaid,  no  funds  have 
been  furnished  for  the  purpose  except  fifteen  hundred  dollars  which 
was  handed  me  by  the  late  Superintendent  and  was  in  part  used  in 
liquidation  of  my  own  Salary  and  the  remainder,  say  six  or  seven 
hundred  dollars,  in  the  payment  of  employees,  for  the  want  of  funds 
I  have  been  unable  to  close  my  account,  they  will  all  be  ready,  how- 


352     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

ever,  on  the  first  of  July,  and  if  you  should  be  in  possession  of  funds 
for  the  purpose,  after  the  anticipated  meeting  of  the  Indians  here,  if 
it  should  meet  your  approbation,  I  will  take  the  accounts  to  your 
Head  Quarters  and  submit  them  to  your  inspection  in  order  that 
they  may  be  closed,  provided  it  is  inconvenient  for  you  to  transmit 
the  money  to  me. 

I  desire  to  call  your  attention  particularly  to  the  fact  that  the 
present  Contract  for  supplying  the  Indians  with  rations  on  the  Reserve 
will  terminate  I  am  told  (I  have  never  been  favored  with  a  copy)  on 
the  1 6th  of  August  next,  and  it  therefore  would  seem  proper  that  a 
new  contract  should  be  let  in  time  for  the  Contractor  to  have  his 
supplies  in  readiness  for  delivery  at  that  time,  and  it  is  but  justice 
to  Mr.  Chas.  B.  Johnson,  the  present  Contractor  to  say  that  he  has 
complied  with  his  Contract  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  concerned, 
kept  ample  supplies  at  all  times  on  hand,  and  disposed  to  be  pleasant 
and  obliging  not  only  to  the  Indians,  but  to  all  other  persons  with 
whom  he  has  had  business  to  transact. 

When  the  Kioways  arrive  I  apprehend  they  will  have  many  horses 
and  mules  in  their  possession  which  will  be  identified  by  the  Texas 
people  here  as  the  property  of  people  living  in  Texas;  the  friendly 
relations  and  recent  social  intercourse  of  these  Indians  with  those 
of  the  wild  bands  has  been  the  cause  of  introducing  here  several 
horses  and  mules  of  that  description  already.  My  original  instruc- 
tions under  the  United  States  Government  was  to  take  possession 
of  all  such  property  and  have  them  delivered  to  their  proper  owners, 
but  if  a  course  of  that  kind  was  now  pursued  it  would  at  once  defeat 
the  Treaty  with  the  wild  bands  and  cause  them  to  recommence  their 
depredations  with  increased  violence  and  renewed  vigor.  The  loth 
Article  of  the  recent  Treaty  reads  thus: 

It  is  distinctly  understood  by  the  said  four  bands  of  the  Ne-um,  the 
State  of  Texas  is  one  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  joins  in  this  Con- 
vention, and  signs  it  when  the  Commissioner  signs  it,  and  is  bound  by 
it;  and  that  all  hostilities  and  enmities  between  it  and  them  are  now 
ended,  and  are  to  be  forgotten  and  forgiven  forever  on  both  sides. 

Also  the  I gth  Article  commencing  at  the  I5th  line  reads  thus: 
And  the  same  things  in  all  respects  are  also  hereby  offered  to  the  Kio- 
ways and  agreed  to  be  given  them,  if  they  will  settle  in  said  Country, 
atone  for  the  murders  and  robberies  they  have  lately  committed  and 
show  a  resolution  to  lead  an  honest  life;  to  which  end  the  Confederate 
States  send  the  Kioways  with  this  talk,  the  wampum  of  peace  and  the 
bullet  of  war,  for  them  to  take  their  choice,  now  and  for  all  time  to  come. 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  353 

But  the  Treaty  is  silent  in  reference  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
owners  of  property  lost  in  that  manner  are  to  be  remunerated. 

In  a  consultation  which  I  held  with  Capts  Hart  and  James  we 
determined  to  take  proof  in  reference  to  the  ownership  of  the  prop- 
erty, place  a  fair  valuation  upon  it  and  submit  it  to  the  Confederate 
Government  for  their  approbation,  approval,  and  allowance,  pro- 
vided, however,  that  it  should  meet  your  approbation  in  the  first  place. 

A  short  time  since  a  delegation  from  all  the  tribes  here  except  the 
Tonkahwas  and  Comanches  visited  the  Kioways  to  obtain  from  them 
their  horses  which  were  stolen  by  the  Kioways,  one  of  the  Waco 
Chiefs  has  returned  and  says  they  delivered  to  him  ten  of  the  stolen 
horses,  were  disposed  to  be  friendly  and  said  all  of  them  should  be 
given  up,  but  after  he  left  a  Wichita  stole  from  the  Kioways  twenty- 
one  horses  and  a  Caddo  four  and  have  brought  them  to  the  Reserve. 
I  held  a  consultation  with  the  Chiefs  in  reference  to  the  matter  in 
which  it  was  determined  that  the  horses  should  be  taken  from  those 
who  stole  them  and  returned  to  the  Kioways  immediately  after  the 
return  of  the  Wichita  Chief  La-sa-di-wah,  who  will  report  the  facts 
as  they  are. 

In  all  my  official  relations  I  have  avoided,  as  far  as  possible,  in- 
curring useless  or  unnecessary  expenses,  and  now  the  troubled  condi- 
tion of  the  country  would  seem  to  render  it  doubly  necessary,  allow 
me  therefore  to  suggest  that  the  office  of  Commissiary  is  a  sinecure, 
a  useless  expenditure  of  public  money  to  the  Government  and  an  in- 
jury to  the  public  service,  it  has  never  been  allowed  before  at  an 
Agency  where  an  agent  could  be  present  and  witness  the  issues  him- 
self, the  Interpreters  necessarily  have  to  be  present,  and  heretofore 
have  witnessed  the  issues,  the  Commissary  merely  being  an  impartial 
weigher  between  the  Contractor  and  the  Indians  which  can  be  done 
just  as  well  by  one  of  the  Interpreters  without  incurring  any  addi- 
tional expense  to  the  Government. 

One  of  the  greatest  injuries  which  I  have  met  with  during  a  term 
of  more  than  five  years  service,  has  been  experienced  from  officious 
meddlers,  idlers  and  tale-bearers  who  are  apt  to  hover  round  Indian 
encampments,  and  I  have  never  found  one  more  so  than  the  present 
Commissary.  J.  J.  Sturm  who  spends  the  principal  part  of  his  time 
at  the  Indian  encampments  pretends  to  know  more  than  anyone  else, 
palpably  neglects  the  instructions  given  him  and  has  produced  more 
disquiet  on  the  Reserve  than  has  been  produced  from  all  other  causes, 
he  would  have  been  suspended  and  reported  long  since,  but  I  was  ap- 


354     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

prehensive  that  it  might  be  supposed  that  I  was  actuated  from  vin- 
dictive feelings  towards  him  on  account  of  an  injury  which  he  at- 
tempted to  inflict  upon  me.  At  the  close  of  the  present  Contract  if 
you  should  deem  it  necessary  to  continue  such  an  office,  I  hope  a  more 
suitable  man  will  be  appointed. 

At  the  close  of  the  present  fiscal  year  I  shall  report  in  detail  every- 
thing connected  with  the  Reserve  and  the  Indians  thereon,  the  ex- 
penses thereof  and  the  reasons  and  necessities  for  so  doing.  I  am  sir, 
Very  respectfully,  Your  obt.  servant.  [M.  LEEPER] 

LEEPER  TO  PIKE 

Copy  to  Brig.  Gen'l  Albert  Pike,  Acting  Supt.,  Comr.,  Etc.,  in  refer- 
ence to  making  a  treaty  with  the  Kioway  Indians  and  the  signing 
of  the  amendments  of  Congress. 

WASHITA  AGENCY,  L.D.,  July  n,  1862. 

BRIG.  GEN'L  ALBERT  PIKE,  &  Act'g  Superintendent,  Commissioner, 
etc., 

Sir:  In  compliance  with  your  instructions  and  authority,  I  have 
this  day  entered  into  Treaty  stipulations  with  the  Kioway  Indians 
and  all  the  wild  Comanche  bands  with  the  exception  of  the  Kua-ha- 
ra-tet-sa-co-no  who  inhabit  the  western  portion  of  the  "Staked  Plains," 
and  with  those  I  am  negotiating  and  shall  probably  conclude  a  treaty 
of  peace  in  September  or  October  next.  Those  who  treated  in  August 
last  have  also  signed  and  adopted  amendments  of  Congress. 

They  retired  well  satisfied  with  themselves,  and  with  the  action  of 
the  Confederate  Government,  consequently  peace  and  quietness  may 
be  expected  to  prevail  in  future  upon  the  frontier  of  Texas,  provided, 
however,  that  a  band  of  fugitives  from  the  various  clans  who  have 
congregated  on  the  Pecos,  numbering  it  is  said  one  hundred  and  fifty 
or  two  hundred,  governed  by  no  law  and  disposed  to  spread  desolation 
wherever  they  go,  are  destroyed  or  our  troops  can  receive  aid  from  the 
bands  who  have  treated  in  hunting  down  and  destroying  those  "fel- 
lows". I  am  sir,  Very  respectfully,  Your  obt.  ser't 

[M.  LEEPER]  Ind.  Agency,  C.S.A. 

NOTICE 

As  Agent  and  Acting  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  I  have  entered  into  Solemn  Treaty  stipulations  of 
perpetual  friendship  and  peace  with  the  Kioway  Indians  and  wild 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  355 

bands  of  Comanches  except  the  Kna-ha-ra-tet-sa-co-no  whose  habita- 
tions are  on  the  Western  extremity  of  the  "Staked  Plains"  and  with 
those  I  am  negotiating  and  will  probably  conclude  a  treaty  some  time 
in  September  next. 

Therefore  perfect  peace  and  quietness  may  soon  be  expected  to 
prevail  on  the  Texas  frontier. 

In  order  to  convince  the  Indians  of  our  sincerity  and  punctuality, 
it  is  necessary  to  comply  strictly  with  the  Treaty,  and  to  do  that,  the 
Government  expects  me  to  employ  four  or  five  farmers  and  twenty 
laborers  which  I  desire  to  do;  farmers  with  families  would  be  pre- 
ferred, to  whom  fifty  dollars  per  month  and  rations  will  be  given,  and 
to  laborers  twenty-five  dollars  per  month  and  rations,  negro  men 
would  be  preferred. 

At  present  there  is  not  the  slightest  danger  there,  the  agency  is 
one  of  the  most  quiet  and  peaceful  places  within  the  limits  of  the 
Confederate  Government. 

Apply  to  the  undersigned  who  will  remain  a  few  days  in  Sherman 
and  afterward  at  the  Washita  Agency. 
July  2ist   1862. 

LEEPER  [?]  TO  PARKS 

SHERMAN,  TEXAS,  July  28th,  1862. 
MR.  ROBERT  W.  PARKS, 

Sir,  -  Enclosed  you  will  please  find  the  copy  of  a  letter  of  instruc- 
tions to  me  from  G«n'l  Pike  the  Acting  Superintendent  of  Indian 
Affairs  (addressed  to  you)  in  reference  to  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
appropriated  by  the  Government  to  purchase  farming  utensils,  oxen, 
wagons  and  stock  animals  for  Indians  located  on  the  Washita  Reserve, 
which  fund  was  handed  to  you.  The  direction  of  the  expenditures 
of  the  fund  legitimately  belongs  to  the  local  Agent  who  is  alone  sup- 
posed to  know  the  amount  and  description  of  articles  necessary  to  be 
purchased  for  the  Indians,  hence  Gen'l  Pike's  letter.  Before  making 
any  of  the  purchases  indicated  it  would  be  well  to  see  me  in  order  to 
ascertain  the  amount  and  description  required,  the  Indians  already 
have  been  furnished  with  a  few  wagons,  oxen  and  farming  utensils, 
in  fact  in  reference  to  farming  implements  they  are  well  enough  sup- 
plied with  the  exception  of  weeding  hoes  and  axes;  and  in  reference 
to  the  stock  animals  to  be  purchased  I  would  like  to  have  a  distinct 
understanding  with  regard  to  the  quality  and  the  price;  a  responsible 
gentleman  whom  I  met  here  is  willing  to  furnish  cows  and  calves, 


356     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

the  cows  not  to  exceed  six  years  old  delivered  at  the  agency  at  sixteen 
dollars ;  therefore  I  should  be  unwilling  to  receive  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  animals  of  that  description  at  a  higher  price  in  the  ab- 
sence of  positive  instructions  to  that  effect;  the  quantity  also  to  be 
purchased  is  an  important  item. 

If  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  visit  the  Agency,  I  will  give  you  an 
exact  description  of  the  articles  necessary  to  be  purchased  and  will 
give  you  the  preference  as  a  contractor  for  furnishing  the  same. 

A  copy  of  this  letter  will  be  furnished  the  Acting  Superintendent 
Gen'l  Pike,  and  the  Department.  Very  respectfully,  Your  obt  sevt. 

[M.  LEEPER] 

WASH.,  ARK.,  Aug.  19,  1862. 

COLONEL:  I  have  forwarded  you  letters  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs.  Having  resigned  and  been  deprived  of  command  in 
the  Indian  Country,  I  am  also  relieved  of  duty  as  Acting  Superin- 
tendent, for  which  crowning  mercy,  God  be  thanked. 

Mr.  Parks  returned  on  receiving  your  letter  and  refunded  me 
$15,000  placed  in  his  hands,  except  $2OO,  paid  for  a  mowing  ma- 
chine. I  have  deposited  the  residue,  with  all  other  Indian  moneys, 
(Coin  and  paper),  in  a  safe  place,  and  so  advised  the  Commissioner. 
As  soon  as  a  new  Superintendent  is  appointed,  I  hope  to  get  rid  of 
it  all. 

If  you  had  written  me,  before,  what  you  write  now,  in  regard  to 
McKusken[?],  you  would  not  have  had  to  complain  that  I  frustrated 
your  efforts.  You  sent  him  to  me  it  is  true,  but  with  no  such  charges, 
and  consequently  left  me  bound  to  pay  him  off.  I  had  employed  him, 
and  no  showing  was  made  to  me  that  he  did  not  deserve  his  pay.  I 
hear  the  charges  now  for  the  first  time. 

As  to  the  corn  at  Cobb,  I  think  you  are  misinformed.  When  I 
returned  there  last  fall  I  found  it  difficult  to  get  a  small  quantity, 
because  the  officer  in  Command  said  they  needed  it  all;  although  the 
troops  were  on  the  point  of  leaving.  I  know  it  had  been  so  wasted 
that  there  was  not  much  left  and  what  was  left,  you  needed,  as  you 
had  none.  I  wonder  you  did  not  send  your  wagons  and  get  it,  as 
soon  as  the  troops  left,  if  there  was  any  remaining,  and  account  for  it. 

I  was  sorry  to  hear  that  you  had  made  unkind  remarks  in  regard 
to  myself,  and  though  apparently  my  friend,  were  secretly  my  enemy - 
and  I  am  truly  glad  to  receive  your  flat  contradiction.  I  have  never 
had  any  unkind  feelings  towards  you,  and  was  glad  to  believe  after 


Wichita  Agency  Papers  357 

meeting  you  this  Summer,  that  you  had  none  towards  me.  For  any 
imputations  against  yourself  in  your  official  capacity,  you  are  indebted 
in  chief  measure  to  Major  Rector  who  made  them  openly,  anywhere, 
and  in  the  presence  of  many.  What  Mr.  Sturm  said  was  not  said 
willingly,  but  drawn  from  him.  He  showed  a  great  disinclination  to 
say  anything  against  you. 

Believe  me,  I  would  now,  as  always  for  years  past,  rather  serve 
than  injure  you.  And  I  sincerely  hope  our  friendly  relations  may 
continue.  I  expect  to  settle  not  far  from  you  and  will  always  gladly 
aid  in  cultivating  friendship  with  the  Indians  and  enabling  you  to 
succeed  with  them.  I  am  very  truly  yours  ALBERT  PIKE 

Col.  M.  Leeper  C.S.  Agent  Etc. 

DESHLER 59T  TO  LEEPER 

Gen.  Holmes  in  reply  to  your  letter  of  iyth  inst.  just  received, 
instructs  me  to  say,  that  Gen.  Hindman  is  going  to  take  command 
of  all  the  troops  in  the  Indian  country,  he  starts  in  a  day  or  two. 
Col.  W.  P.  Lane's  Reg't  has  been  ordered  to  Fort  Arbuckle.  The 
gen.  com'd'g  thinks  these  measures  will  be  sufficient  to  insure  quiet 
in  your  region,  but  instructs  me  to  say  that  if  he  knew  of  any  avail- 
able force  in  Texas  he  would  have  no  objection  to  sending  5  or  6 
Companies  to  you,  but  there  are  no  troops  available  other  than  Col. 
Lane's  Reg't  already  ordered  to  Arbuckle. 


597  James  Deshler  to  Leeper,  dated  Little  Rock,  Sept.  28,  1862. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 
I.  GENERAL  ACCOUNT  OF  DOCUMENTARY  SOURCES. 

The  material  for  this  book  has  been  drawn  almost  entirely  from 
documentary  sources  and,  in  a  very  large  measure,  from  unpublished 
documentary  sources;  namely,  the  manuscript  records  of  the  United 
States  Indian  Office.  Those  records  to-day  are  in  a  very  disorganized 
state,  largely  due  to  change  of  system  and  to  the  many  removals  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected  within  the  last  few  years.  At  the 
time  when  they  were  examined  for  the  purposes  of  the  present  work, 
such  of  them  as  were  not  included  in  Registers,  Letter  Books,  and 
Report  Books  were  classified  as  Land  Files,  General  Files,  Special 
Files,  Emigration  Files,  Miscellaneous  Files,  Star  Files,  and  the  like, 
the  basis  of  classification  being,  convenience  in  the  current  and  routine 
work  of  the  office.  The  individual  files  were  arranged  according 
to  tribe,  agency,  or  superintendency  and  every  incoming  letter  had 
its  own  file  mark.  It  had  a  letter  to  designate  the  transmitter,  that 
letter  being  the  initial  of  the  transmitter's  surname  or  of  the  office 
he  represented,  and  it  had  a  number  to  indicate  its  rank  in  a  series, 
all  the  papers  of  which  bore  the  same  initial  letter  and  had  been 
received  in  the  same  given  year.  Finally,  it  was  rated  as  belonging 
to  a  particular  tribe,  agency,  or  superintendency  and  to  a  particular 
file. 

In  the  autumn  of  1911,  an  attempt  was  made  to  consolidate  the 
old  Land  and  General  Files  with  the  result  that  now  they  are  no 
longer  distinct  from  each  other;  but  it  has  seemed  best  not  to  change 
the  reference  in  the  citations.  The  year,  the  letter,  and  the  number 
are  permanent  indices  and,  with  them  at  hand,  there  ought  to  be  no 
difficulty  in  the  locating  of  a  paper,  except  for  the  fact  that  nearly 
everything  in  the  United  States  Indian  Office  seems,  just  now,  rather 
transitory  and  chaotic.  Had  the  inaugural  ball  for  1913  not  been 
dispensed  with,  the  plan  was,  to  use  the  records  as  the  base  for  the 
band-stand,  a  decidedly  interesting  reflection,  one  must  admit,  upon 
the  popular  notion  of  the  value  of  the  national  archives. 

Among  the  manuscripts  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  present 


360     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

work,  were  two  collections  of  papers  that  came  into  the  United  States 
Indian  Office  out  of  the  regular  course  of  its  official  business.  In  the 
citations,  one  is  noted  as  Leeper  Papers,  and  the  other  as  Fort  Smith 
Papers.  Their  history,  since  they  came  into  the  Indian  Office,  proves 
how  urgent  is  the  need  for  a  Hall  of  Records.  Inasmuch  as  these 
papers  were  not  required  for  the  every-day  business  of  the  office,  they 
were  packed  away,  years  and  years  ago,  along  with  a  lot  of  other 
commercially  useless  papers,  in  huge  boxes  and  stored  in  the  attic  of 
the  old  Post-office  Building.  There  they  were  left  to  be  forgotten. 
In  the  course  of  time,  the  Office  of  Indian  Affairs  was  moved  from 
the  old  Post-office  Building  to  the  Pension  Building ;  but  the  packing- 
boxes  in  the  attic  were  inadvertently  left  behind.  One  day,  however, 
the  writer  discovered  that  papers,  found  at  the  Wichita  Agency  at 
the  time  Agent  Leeper  was  killed,  October,  1862,  had  really  come 
into  the  Indian  Office;  but  the  question  was,  where  were  they?  A 
search  high  and  low  was  totally  without  success  until  it  developed 
that  the  packing-boxes  in  the  attic  were  supposed  to  contain  "useless" 
papers  and  were  still  in  the  old  Post-office  Building.  Permission  was 
obtained  to  have  them  examined  and,  for  this  purpose,  they  were 
transferred  to  the  Pension  Building.  Among  their  contents  was 
found  a  number  of  interesting  and  valuable  documents  which  very 
likely  would  soon  have  been  lost  forever,  destroyed  by  the  General 
Land  Office  because  abandoned  by  the  Indian.  The  contents  included, 
besides  the  Leeper  Papers  for  which  the  search  had  been  especially 
conducted,  letter-books  of  Michigan  territorial  governors,  file-boxes 
of  all  sorts,  and  a  mass  of  Confederate  stuff,  brought  from  Fort  Smith. 
The  last-named  proved  a  veritable  mine  of  wealth.  It  comprised 
the  occasional  correspondence  of  Cooper,  Cowart,  Crawford,  Drew, 
Dean,  Rector,  Pike,  and  many  others  whose  official  life  had  brought 
them  into  contact  with  the  Indians.  It  was  all  very  suggestive  and 
remunerative. 

To  supplement  the  manuscripts  an  exhaustive  search  of  the  Official 
Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  has  been  made  and  with  good 
results.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  material  in  the  Official  Records  is  so 
badly  arranged  and  so  much  of  it  duplicated  and  often  triplicated. 
Had  it  been  better  edited  and  better  indexed,  the  danger  of  over- 
looking important  documents  would  have  been  minimized  a  hundred- 
fold. The  volumes  found  particularly  useful  for  Indian  participation 
in  the  Civil  War  were  the  following: 
First  Series,  vols.  i;  iii;  iv;  viii;  ix;  xiii;  xxii,  parts  I  and  2; 


Bibliography  361 


xxvi,  parts  I  and  2;  xxxiv,  parts  I,  2,  and  3;  xli,  parts  I,  2,  3,  and  4; 
xlviii,  parts  I  and  2;  liii,  supplement. 
Third  Series,  vols.  i;  ii;  iii. 
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364  The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 

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"  50,  January  i,  1858  to  June  25,  1858. 

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"  63,  June  i,  1864  to  December  31,  1864. 

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INDEX 


ABBOTT,  J.  B :  245,  footnote 

Abel,  Annie  Heloise:  work  cited,  71, 
footnote,  191,  footnote 

Abolitionists:  Indians'  slaves  enticed 
away,  23 ;  charges  against  Cal- 
houn,  30;  Quantrill  in  league  with, 
48;  desire  Indian  lands,  76,  118; 
among  Cherokees,  132;  Cherokees  re- 
pudiate idea  that  they  are,  225 ; 
charges  against,  291-294 

Adair,  W.  P:  219,  footnote 

Address:  of  John  Ross  at  Cherokee 
mass-meeting,  220 

Agency  system:  under  Confederacy, 
179 

Alabama:  Creeks,  Choctaws,  and 
Chickasaws  from,  20,  193,  footnote ; 
Choctaws  in,  20,  footnote;  David 
Hubbard,  commissioner  from,  108 

Alliance:  Indians  given  political  posi- 
tion in  return  for,  17 ;  reasons  for 
southern  Indians  entering  into,  with 
Confederacy,  18 ;  Confederate  State 
Department  to  effect,  140,  footnote; 
failure  of  Pike  to  effect,  with  Cher- 
okees, 156;  Choctaw  General  Coun- 
cil authorizes  negotiation  of  treaty 
of,  156;  Confederacy  paid  dearly 
for  its  Indian,  177;  nature  of  Sem- 
inole,  with  Confederacy,  197;  prin- 
ciples of  active,  inserted  by  Pike 
into  treaties,  212;  McCulloch  to  ac- 
cept Drew's  regiment  of  Home 
Guards  as  soon  as  treaty  of,  be  con- 
summated, 227;  conditions  of,  be- 
tween the  Indians  and  Confederacy, 
280;  result  of  Battle  of  Pea  Ridge 
on  Indian,  284 

Allies:  Indian,  17;  hope  of  finding  in 
Cherokees,  125 


Allotment  in  severally:  suggested  to 
Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws, 
58 

American  Baptist  Missionary  Union: 

38 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions:  work  among 
Cherokees  and  Choctaws,  39;  rec- 
ords of,  40,  footnote;  missionaries 
among  Choctaws  remove  themselves 
from  patronage,  41,  42,  43,  footnote 

American  Civil  War:  [See  Civil  War] 

American  Historical  Association:  Re- 
port, 20,  footnote 

American  Revolution:  effect  upon 
Cherokee  emigration  to  Texas,  20, 
footnote;  work  of  Committees  of 
Correspondence  in  connection  with, 
83 

Amnesty:  provided  for,  176 

Annuities:  negro  and  Indian  half- 
breeds  share  Indian,  23,  footnote; 
Choctaw,  distinct  from  Chickasaw, 
34,  footnote;  Indian,  declared  for- 
feited by  Lincoln  government,  145 ; 
John  Ross  considers  Indian,  safe, 
147;  payment  of  Indian,  assumed  by 
Confederacy,  163 ;  Indian,  diverted 
from  regular  channels,  170;  to  use, 
of  hostile  Indians,  274;  Crawford 
makes  requisition  for  Cherokee,  307 

Antelope  Hills:  55,  136,  footnote 

Apucks-hu-nubbe :  district  of,  34,  foot- 
note 

Arbuckle,  General:  193,  footnote 

Arkansas:  Choctaws  and  Cherokees 
tarry  in,  19,  footnote;  Indian  Ter- 
ritory annexed  to,  for  judicial  pur- 
poses, 23,  footnote;  and  Indian  pat- 
ronage, 59 ;  and  Indian  participa- 


372     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


tion  in  Civil  War,  63 ;  interest  in 
Indian  Territory,  67;  Knights  of 
Golden  Circle  active  in,  68 ;  inter- 
est in  Indian  alliance,  83 ;  affairs 
reach  crisis,  97 ;  Hubbard,  commis- 
sioner to,  108 ;  sends  commission  to 
Indian  country,  119;  sends  Albert 
Pike  as  delegate,  132-133 

Arkansas  Baptist:  47,  footnote 

Arkansas  Convention:  Journal,  119, 
footnotes,  120,  footnotes 

Arkansas  Historical  Association:  Pub- 
lications, 106,  footnote 

Arkansas  Legislature:  House  Journal, 
103,  footnote,  no,  footnote,  in, 
footnote 

Arkansas  River:  67,  76,  97,  135,  foot- 
note, 162,  175 

Arms:  description  of,  needed  for  In- 
dians, 190,  footnote;  Choctaw- 
Chickasaw  regiment  not  furnished 
with,  2ii ;  scarcity  of,  211,  footnote; 
Cherokees  in,  at  Tahlequah  mass- 
meeting,  217;  Ross  able  to  bear, 
137,  footnote;  Creeks  under,  threaten 
I  hostilities,  138,  footnote;  fear,  for 

Indians  will  be  taken  by  secession- 
ists, 228,  footnote;  Confederate  dif- 
ficulty in  securing,  253  and  footnote 

Armstrong  Academy:  40,  footnote 

Armstrong,  William:  193,  footnote 

Asbury  Mission:  Indian  amity  com- 
pact concluded  at,  69,  footnote 

Assinneboin:  suggested  Territory  of, 
32,  footnote 

Atchison,  David  R:  letter  to,  men- 
tioned, 33,  footnote 

Austin  State  Gazette:  80,  footnote 

Averell,  William  W:  101,  footnote 

BAKER,  GEORGE  E:  work  cited,  58, 
footnote 

Balentine,  H :  79 

Ball-playing:  connected  with  secret  or- 
ganization of  "Pins,"  86,  footnote 

Bancroft,  Frederic:  work  cited,  58, 
footnote 

Barnes,  James  K:  260,  footnote 


Barnesville:  245,  246 

Beams's  Negroes:  23,  footnote 

Beaver  Creek:  55 

Beening,  S.  T:  102,  footnote 

Benjamin,  Judah  P:  140,  footnote,  200, 
footnote,  215,  footnote,  252,  footnote 

Benton,  Thomas  H:  plan  for  a  na- 
tional highway,  28;  request,  33, 
footnote 

Big  Chief:  merit  chief  of  Great 
Osages,  238 

Billy  Bowlegs:  leaves  Florida,  20, 
footnote;  communications  from,  198, 
footnote ;  refuses  to  sign  treaty  with 
Confederate  States,  198-199 ;  death 
of,  198,  footnote;  regarded  as  good 
commander,  277,  footnote 

Bird  Creek:  battle  of,  138,  footnote, 
255-256 

Bishop,  A.  W:  work  cited,  67,  foot- 
note, 68,  footnote,  133,  footnote 

Black  Beaver:  101  and  footnote,  303 

Black  Dog:  see  Shon-tah-sob-ba 

Blackhoof,  Eli:  209,  footnote 

Blain,  S.  A:  56,  footnote,  57,  footnote 

Blankets:  furnished  Indian  refugees, 
261 ;  to  be  furnished  Indian  soldiers 
in  U.S.A.,  271,  footnote;  Indians 
need,  310;  Leeper  offers  to  give 
Kiowas,  318;  Rector  urges  Leeper 
not  to  promise,  Kiowas,  332;  Ki- 
owas receive  from  U.S.  government, 

343 

Bloomfield  Academy:  40,  footnote 

Bob  Deer:  244 

Boggy  Depot:  91,  230,  footnote 

Bonds:  61,  145-146 

Boone,  A.  G:  210,  footnote 

Boonsboro  [Boonsborough] :  in  and 
footnote,  125 

Boudinot,  E.  C:  119,  153,  156;  foot- 
note, 219,  footnote 

Bourland,  James:  appointed  commis- 
sioner, 88 ;  report,  91 

Branch,  Harrison  B:  182-183,  210, 
footnote,  22%,  232-233,  249,  271,  279, 
footnote 

Brazos  Agency:  55 


Index 


373 


Bribery:  William  Mclntosh  guilty  of, 
236;  of  chiefs  to  induce  secession, 
262,  footnote 

Brigade:  jayhawking  character  of 
Lane's,  233;  Lane's  gives  John 
Mathews  his  deserts,  239 ;  Hunter 
asks  permission  to  muster,  of  friend- 
ly Indians,  250;  Kile,  quartermaster 
in,  274;  proportion  of  white  troops 
in  Pike's,  280 

Brooks,  Preston :  45,  footnote 

Brown,  James:  217 

Buchanan,  James:  administration 
charged  by  free-state  Kansans  with 
bad  faith,  37 ;  endorses  pro-slavery 
policy,  45,  footnote;  distrusted,  47; 
"no  coercion"  policy,  87,  footnote; 
patronage,  given  to  southern  men, 
262,  footnote;  work  cited,  22,  foot- 
note, 29,  footnote 

Buckner,  H.  S:  92 

Buffalo  Hump:  305,  315,  330,  338,  348 

Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs  (Confeder- 
ate) :  128,  141,  footnote,  190,  foot- 
note 

Burgevin,  Edmund:  105,  footnote 

Burleigh,  Walter  A:  227,  footnote 

Burlington:  259,  260,  footnote 

Burroughs,  B:  120 

Burrow,  N.  B:  99,  298,  305,  330,  341 

Bushwhackers:  drive  Caddoes  out  of 
Texas,  19,  footnote 

Butler,  George:  agent  for  Cherokees, 
45»  47i  footnote,  285,  290 

Byington,  Cyrus:  79 

CACHE  CREEK:  55 

Caddoes:  from  Louisiana,  19,  foot- 
note; Pike  to  meet,  189,  footnote; 
horses  stolen  by,  353 

Calhoun,  J.  M:  90,  footnote 

Calhoun,  John  C:  report,  27;  motive, 
29;  political  heresy,  133 

Cameron,  Simon:  234,  249,  footnote 

Campbell,  A.  B :  260,  footnote 

Canadian  River:  55,  63,  67,  162 

Cane  Hill:  296,  327 

Carolinas:  Catawbas  in,  20,   footnote 


Carroll,  H.  K:  work  cited,  37,  footnote 

Carruth,  E.  H:  report,  84,  footnote, 
197,  footnote,  198,  footnote;  appoint- 
ed by  Lane,  242;  interviews  Creek 
delegates,  245 ;  tries  to  arrange  for 
inter-tribal  council,  246;  letter,  267 

Cass,  Lewis:  193,  footnote 

Catawbas:  admitted  to  Choctaw  citi- 
zenship, 20,  footnote;  in  possession 
of  northeastern  part  of  Choctaw 
country,  20,  footnote;  in  South  Car- 
olina fight  with  South,  20,  footnote 

"Catron  letter":  29,  footnote 

Chah-la-kee:  suggested  territory  of, 
31,  footnote 

Chah-lah-ki:  district  of,  178 

Chah-ta:  suggested  territory  of,  31, 
footnote 

Chahta  Tamaha:  189,  footnote 

Chatterton,  Charles  W:  259,  footnote 

Checote,  Samuel:  193,  194 

Cherokee  Declaration  of  Independence: 
written  by  Pike,  137,  footnote 

Cherokee  Executive  Council,  136,  foot- 
note; John  Ross  promises  to  call 
meeting  of,  153 ;  meeting  of,  216, 
217;  communicates  with  McCulloch, 
226 

Cherokee  Neutral  Lands:  location,  21, 
footnote,  64;  size,  21,  footnote;  in- 
truded upon,  35,  46,  285,  290;  project 
for  selling,  50,  163 ;  McCulloch 
takes  position  opposite,  225 ;  Lane's 
proposed  camp  in,  233;  Stand 
Watie  ordered  to  take  up  a  position 
in,  252,  footnote;  Cowart  sets  out 
for,  294 

Cherokee  Outlet:  54,  footnote;  63, 
footnote,  64 

Cherokee  Proclamation  of  Neutrality: 
153-154 

Cherokee  Strip:  location,  21,  64;  cov- 
eted by  Kansans,  21 

Cherokee  Treaty:  157  and  footnote; 
declares  allegiance  to  C.S.A.,  159, 
footnote;  contains  guarantee  of  au- 
tonomy, 159,  footnote;  contains  prom- 
ise of  representation  in  Congress, 


374     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


X59i  footnote',  navigable  waters, 
174;  admission  to  military  academy, 
1 80;  appointment  of  postmasters, 
1 80;  considered  by  Provisional  Con- 
gress, 206;  negotiated,  237;  Ross's 
characterization  of,  257 

Cherokees:  from  Tennessee  and  Geor- 
gia, 20;  tarried  in  Arkansas,  19, 
footnote',  go  to  Texas,  20,  footnote', 
removal  to  Arkansas  suggested  by 
Jefferson,  20,  footnote;  in  North 
Carolina  fight  with  South,  20,  foot- 
note; "Eastern"  in  controversy  with 
"Western,"  20,  footnote;  character 
of  constitution,  31,  footnote;  visited 
by  Sacs  and  Foxes,  36,  footnote; 
work  of  A.B.C.F.M.  among,  39; 
schools  among,  39,  footnote;  religious 
denominations  among,  39-40;  desir- 
able to  have  slaveholders  settle 
among  them,  42;  material  progress 
due  to  slavery,  46 ;  search  organiza- 
tion among,  48 ;  with  Cooper  as  vol- 
unteers, 54;  antebellum  relations 
with  people  of  Arkansas,  64;  repre- 
sentatives at  inter-tribal  conference, 
71 ;  visited  by  commissioners  from 
Texas,  92;  in  council  with  Creeks, 
Seminoles,  Quapaws,  and  Sacs,  94; 
Pike's  negotiations  with,  134,  foot- 
note; to  be  indemnified,  163;  made 
an  exception,  168 ;  at  Battle  of 
Wilson's  Creek,  214-215,  214,  foot- 
note; secession  of,  217;  resolutions 
of,  223-225 ;  secret  organization 
among,  291-293 

Chickasaw:  district,   34,   footnote,  52 

Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  Herald:  56, 
footnote 

Chickasaw  Legislature:  act,  68;  reso- 
lutions, 122,  footnote,  155 

Chickasaw  Manual  Labor  School:  40, 
footnote 

Chickasaws:  from  Alabama  and  Mis- 
sissippi, 20;  character  of  constitu- 
tion, 31,  footnote;  domestic  troubles, 
34;  political  connection  with  Choc- 
taws,  34,  footnote;  religious  denom- 


inations among,  40,  footnote;  con- 
struct government,  51 ;  as  volun- 
teers, 54;  country,  63;  not  repre- 
sented at  inter-tribal  conference,  71 ; 
convention  of  Choctaws  and,  91 ; 
prevented  from  attending  council  at 
North  Fork,  94;  take  charge  of 
property  abandoned  by  Federals  at 
Fort  Arbuckle,  102 ;  appeal  of  Bur- 
roughs to,  120-121 ;  resolutions  of 
Choctaws  and,  130;  negotiations  of 
Albert  Pike  with,  136,  footnote,  196- 
197;  reported  as  anxious  to  join 
Southern  Confederacy,  155;  treaty 
with,  considered  by  Provisional 
Congress,  204-207;  E.  H.  Carruth 
communicates  with  loyal  portion  of, 
246-247 

Chilton,   William  P:  127 

Chippewas:  from  Michigan,  19;  war- 
riors, 227,  footnote 

Chi-sho-hung-ka :  238,  footnote 

Chisholm,  Jesse:  313,  320 

Choctaw-Chickasaw  Regiment :  77, 
207,  210,  211,  230,  footnote,  252, 
footnote 

Choctaw-Chickasaw  Treaty:  157,  and 
footnote;  declares  allegiance  to  C. 
S.  A.,  159,  footnote;  contains  prom- 
ise of  representation  in  Congress, 
159,  footnote;  suggests  ultimate 
statehood,  160,  footnote;  recognizes 
Choctaw  country  as  distinct  from 
Chickasaw,  161 ;  transfers  lease  of 
Wichita  Reserve  to  Confederate 
States,  162;  navigable  waters,  174; 
amnesty,  175 

Choctaw  Corn  Contract:  scandal  in- 
volves Pike,  57,  footnote 

Choctaw  General  Council:  act,  20, 
footnote;  resolution,  72-74;  under 
authority  of  Chief  Hudson  declares 
Choctaw  Nation  "free  and  inde- 
pendent," 156,  196;  plan  treaty  of 
alliance  and  amity  with  Confeder- 
acy, 156;  communication  from  Pike, 
187,  footnote,  196,  footnote 

Choctaw  Light  Horse:  24,  footnote 


Index 


375 


Choctaws:  tarried  in  Arkansas,  19, 
footnote;  Catawbas  wish  to  unite 
with,  20,  footnote]  intimacy  with 
negroes,  20,  footnote ;  in  Mississip- 
pi fight  with  South,  20,  footnote; 
prepared  to  assent  to  territorial  bill, 
31,  footnote;  domestic  troubles,  34; 
political  connection  with  Chicka- 
saws  ended,  34,  footnote;  religious 
denominations  among,  39-40;  schools 
among,  40,  footnote;  desirable  to 
have  slaveholders  settle  among 
them,  42;  ask  relief,  57,  footnote; 
country,  63 ;  antebellum  relations 
with  people  of  Arkansas  and  Texas, 
64;  not  represented  at  inter-tribal 
conference,  71;  delegation,  74;  af- 
fairs, 75-79;  treaty  with  Confed- 
erate States,  78,  204;  convention  of 
Chickasaws  and,  91 ;  prevented  from 
attending  council  at  North  Fork,  94 ; 
resolutions  of  Chickasaws  and,  130; 
negotiations  of  Pike  with,  136, 
footnote,  196-197;  reported  as  anx- 
ious to  join  Confederacy,  155 ;  en- 
list in  army,  210;  Carruth  in  com- 
munication with  loyal  portion,  246- 
247 

Chuahla:  39,  footnote 
Chustenahlah:  battle  of,  258 
Citizenship:  U.S.  recommended  for  In- 
dians, 31  and  footnote;  Ottawas  ex- 
press preference  for  U.S.,  36,  foot- 
note;   Indians    to    determine    own 
tribal,    169;    Jim    Ned's    right    of, 
forfeited    within    Leased    District, 
306 

Civil  War  (American) :  no  adequate 
history  of  American,  17;  Indian  al- 
lies of  South  in,  20,  footnote;  in 
Choctaw-Chickasaw  country  threat- 
ened, 34  and  footnote;  delays  Indian 
removal  from  Kansas,  37;  corrupt 
practices  of  Democratic  Party  just 
prior  to  American,  45,  footnote; 
Stand  Watie  on  Southern  side  in, 
49,  footnote;  responsibility  of  Tex- 
as and  Arkansas  for  participation 
of  Indians  in,  63 ;  early  interest  of 


Texas  and  Arkansas  in  Indian  coun- 
try* 67;  see  also  Enlistment  of  In- 
dians 

Civilization  Fund:  37 
Clark,  George  W:  211,  footnote,  240, 

footnote 

Clover,  Seth:  209,  footnote 
Cobb,  Howell:  45,  footnote 
Cockrell,  S.  R:  119 
Coe,  Chas.  H :  work  cited,  20,  footnote 
Coffin,  William  G:  80  and  footnotes, 

184,  245,  247,  259,  274 
Colbert,  D :  41,  footnote 
Colbert,  Holmes:  261,  footnote 
Colbert,  Winchester:  197,  201,  footnote 
Colbert  Institute:  40,   footnote 
Coleman,    Isaac:    186,    footnote,    259, 

footnote 

Collamore,   George  W:  261,  footnote 
Colley,  S.  G:  350 

Collin   (Texas) :  exodus  of  non-seces- 
sionists from,  95 

Colorado:    indigenous    tribes    in,    19, 
footnote;  attempts  to  secure  Indian 
cooperation,  83 
Comanche  Treaty:  157,  footnote,  158; 

amnesty,  176 

Comanches:  51,  52,  55,  189,  footnote, 
zoo  and  footnote,  201,  206,  313,  320, 
323,  324,  33',  337,  347,  35i 
Commission:    from    Texas    to   Indian 
nations,  88  et  seq;  from  Arkansas, 
108,  footnote 
Concharta:  255 

Confederate   Contract:   for   supplying 
Indians  of  Leased  District,  301-303, 
347,  352 
Confederate  Military   History:    work 

cited,  103,  footnote 
Congressional  Globe:  work  cited,   58, 

footnote 

Connelley,  W.  E:  work  cited,  34,  foot- 
note, 49,  footnote 
Connor,  John:  544 

Cooley,  D.  N:  56,  footnote,  134,  foot- 
note, 226 

Cooper,  Douglas  H:  citizen  of  Mis- 
sissippi, 41 ;  fears  abolitionization 
of  Indian  country,  41 ;  sends  note 


376     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


to  Superintendent  Dean,  42;  san- 
guine as  to  slavery  conditions 
among  Indians,  45 ;  survey  of  Leas- 
ed District,  53 ;  Choctaw  Corn  Con- 
tract, 57,  footnote;  becomes  colonel 
in  Confederate  army,  76;  regiment 
of  Choctaws  to  be  under  command 
of,  77,  207;  absent  from  post,  82 
and  footnote ;  apparently  disap- 
proves of  Texan  interference,  96 ; 
receives  suggestions  from  Rector, 
106-107,  footnote,  187;  instructions 
to,  147,  footnote',  defection  of,  186- 
187;  asked  to  continue  as  agent, 
190,  footnote ;  wishes  to  be  agent 
and  colonel,  197,  footnote,  212,  foot- 
note; report  concerning  Indian  en- 
listment, 211 ;  in  battle  with  Opoe- 
thleyohola,  254  et  seq.,  312;  com- 
plains of  not  having  more  white 
troops,  280 

Cooper,  Samuel:  53,  footnote,  147 
Corn    Contract:    see    Choctaiu    Corn 

Contract 

Council :  Cherokee,  in  session  at  Tahle- 
quah,  50,  footnote;  Choctaw  at 
Doaksville,  77 ;  composition  of 
Doaksville,  77;  at  Fort  Smith,  226- 
227,  241 ;  at  Tahlequah,  237  et  seq., 
240;  Coffin  holds,  with  representa- 
tives of  non-secession  element  of 
various  tribes,  267;  Agent  Johnson 
holds,  with  Delaware  chiefs,  272, 
footnote;  Indian  refugees  hold,  at 
Fort  Roe,  278,  footnote;  Creek,  de- 
mands payment  of  money,  289;  Co- 
wart  reports  rumor  of  Cherokee, 
294;  Cherokee,  to  meet,  296;  of 
each  tribe  to  consider  amendments 
to  treaties,  323  ;  Leeper  holds  with 
Indians  of  Leased  District,  346 ;  Co- 
manches  propose,  to  effect  everlast- 
ing peace  with  Southern  people, 
347;  see  also  Inter-tribal  Confer- 
ence 

Covode,   John:  276 
Covode  Committee:  45,  footnote 
Cowart,  Robert  J :  46,  83  and  footnote, 


89,  footnote,  114  and  footnote,  184, 
290,  295,  298 

Cowetah:  69,  footnote 

Cox,  John  T:  261,  footnote 

Crawford,  John:  183,  footnote,  184- 
185,  and  footnotes,  190,  footnote, 
215,  footnote,  216,  218,  219,  footnote, 
220,  223,  298,  325 

Creek  Country:  Seminoles  accommo- 
dated within,  50;  proposal  for  giv- 
ing southern  Comanches  home  with- 
in, 51  and  footnote;  proposal  to  al- 
lot lands  in  severalty,  58 

Creek  Light  Horse:  218,  footnote 

Creek  National  Council:  rejects  pro- 
posal for  allotment  of  lands  in  sev- 
eralty, 58,  footnote;  approves  draft 
of  treaty  with  C.S.A.,  194 

Creek  Treaty:  157  and  footnote;  Dole 
ignorant  of  existence,  157,  footnote; 
declares  allegiance  to  C.S.A.,  159, 
footnote;  contains  guarantee  of  au- 
tonomy, 159,  footnote;  contains 
promise  of  representation  in  Con- 
gress, 159,  footnote;  model  on  sub- 
ject of  recognizing  slavery,  166-167; 
extradition,  173 ;  negotiation  of, 
192-195 ;  considered  by  Provincial 
Congress,  206 ;  clauses  providing 
for  active  alliance,  212 

Creeks:  from  Georgia  and  Alabama, 
19-20;  assist  in  Seminole  removal, 
20,  footnote;  mixture  with  negroes, 
20,  footnote,  23,  footnote;  status  of 
free  negro  among,  23,  footnote; 
Presbyterians  among,  40;  desirable 
to  have  slaveholders  settle  among, 
42;  repent  giving  home  to  Semin- 
oles, 51;  location,  67;  representa- 
tives at  inter-tribal  council,  71 ;  vis- 
isted  by  commissioners  from  Texas, 
92 ;  in  council  with  Cherokees,  Sem- 
inoles, Quapaws,  and  Sacs,  94 

Crime:  unjustly  charged  against  mis- 
sionaries, 47;  charged  against  Re- 
serve Indians,  52 

Crutchfield,  Major  P.  T:  in 

Culbertson,   Alexander:   210,    footnote 


Index 


377 


Cumberland  Presbyterians:  40,  fool- 
note 

Curtis,  Gen.  S.  R:  138,  footnote 
Gushing,   Caleb:  opinion  as  attorney- 
general,  22 

Cutler,  Abram:  229,  footnote 
Cutler,  George  A:  184,  footnote,  249, 
footnote,  259,  footnote,  266 

DAVIS,  JEFFERSON:  influences  Cushing, 
22;  writes  to  Worcester,  23,  foot- 
note; nominates  Hubbard  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs,  128 ;  ap- 
points Pike  special  commissioner  to 
Indians,  130;  message,  202;  Mar- 
shall writes  to,  207 

Davis,  John  B:  23,  footnote 

Davis,  John  D :  199,  footnote 

Davis,  William  P:  199,  footnote 

Dawson,  J.  L:  193,  footnote 

Dean,  Charles  W:  42;  work  cited,  35, 
footnote,  60,  footnote 

Debray,  X.  B:  102,  footnote 

Decotah:  suggested  territory  of,  31, 
footnote 

Deep  Fork  of  Canadian:  254 

Delawares:  from  Indiana,  19;  tarry  in 
Missouri,  19,  footnote;  free  state 
men  among,  35;  anxious  to  avoid 
white  man's  interference,  36,  foot- 
note; Baptist  school  on  reservation, 
38;  as  refugees,  56,  footnote;  Lee- 
per  to  communicate  with,  181,  foot- 
note; Pike  hopes  to  meet,  189,  foot- 
note; wealth,  208,  footnote;  treaty 
with,  231,  footnote;  employed  as 
scouts,  232 ;  appeal  to,  268 ;  response 
of,  268 ;  and  Shawnees  attack 
Wichita  Agency  and  kill  Leeper, 
329,  footnote 

Delegates:  five  great  tribes  should 
have,  in  Congress,  31,  footnote; 
Pike  sent  as,  132-133 ;  to  be  allowed 
in  Confederate  Congress,  159,  161, 
177,  203,  204,  324;  Creek,  on  way 
to  Washington,  245 ;  Gamble  to 
Confederate  Congress,  312 

Delegation:     Choctaw     and    Chicka- 


saw,  gives  assurance  to  Indian  Of- 
fice of  neutrality,  74  and  footnote, 
75;  from  non-secession  element  in 
various  tribes,  265-266  and  footnote, 
267  and  footnote;  from  Leased  Dis- 
trict visits  Kiowas,  353 

Denton:  exodus  from,  95 

Denver,  J.  W:  270 

Derrysaw,  Jacob:  69,  footnote,  194, 
218,  footnote 

Dickey,  M.  C:  209,  footnote 

Dickinson,  J.  C:  50,  footnote,  296 

Diplomacy:  used  to  effect  Indian  al- 
liance, 17;  and  intrigue  to  effect 
Seminole  removal  from  Florida,  20, 
footnote 

District  of  Columbia:  status  of  slavery 
in,  22 

Disunion:  Pike's  poem  on,  133  and 
footnote 

Doaksville:  39,  footnote;  Choctaw 
constitution,  51;  Council  at,  77 

Dole,  William  P:  56,  footnote,  74, 
footnote,  75,  80,  231  and  footnote, 
233,  241-242,  250,  266,  271,  273,  274 

Dorn,  Andrew  J:  30,  footnote;  takes 
charge  of  Neosho  Agency,  35,  foot- 
note, 51;  absent  from  post,  82;  cit- 
izen of  Arkansas,  82,  footnote;  tells 
Neosho  River  Agency  Indians  to  at- 
tend Tahlequah  meeting,  241 ;  letter 
of,  295 ;  Rector  complains  of  con- 
duct of,  328 

Dred  Scott  Decision:  effect  upon  In- 
dian interests,  29 

Drew,  John:  137,  footnote,  214,  foot- 
note, 217,  226,  253,  footnote,  255 

Drew,  Thomas:  work  cited,  30,  foot- 
note; issues  permits  to  peddle  in 
Indian  country,  60 

Drouth:  57,  146,  208 

Du  Val,  Ben  T:  104,  footnote 

Dwight:  Cherokee  school  at,  39,  foot- 
note 

ECHO  HARJO:  58,  footnote,  80,  footnote, 

192,  193,  243 
Edwards,  John :  78 


378     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Elder,  Peter  P:  81,  footnote 

Elk  Horn  Tavern:  battle  of,  138,  foot- 
note 

Ellis,  Jo:  244 

Emigration:  of  Indians  voluntary,  19, 
footnote 

Emissaries:  83,  88,  89,  footnote,  113  et 
seq.,  114,  footnote,  115,  footnote,  132, 
142,  148,  footnote,  183,  208,  210, 
footnote,  218,  footnote,  219,  footnote, 
242 

Emory,  William  H:  96-102,  98,  foot- 
notes 

Enlistment  of  Indians:  Pike  favors, 
132;  McCulloch  instructed  to  se- 
cure, 144,  147 ;  no  intention  of  Con- 
federacy to  use  as  Home  Guards 
exclusively,  148 ;  Pike  objects  to  use 
outside  of  Indian  country,  149 ;  Hy- 
ams  urges,  155;  Chief  Hudson  au- 
thorizes, among  Choctaws,  156; 
Federal  attitude  towards,  227  et 
seq.;  compulsory,  illegal,  228,  foot- 
note; Lane  resolves  upon,  229-230 
and  footnotes',  Fremont  favors,  231- 
232;  Delaware  chiefs  oppose,  232; 
Lane  persists  in  urging,  248 ;  urged 
by  Hunter,  250;  to  be  resorted  to  by 
Federals  in  invading  Indian  Terri- 
tory, 270-271  and  footnotes,  272, 
footnote;  U.S.  War  Department  re- 
verses action  respecting,  275,  279 
and  footnotes ;  Coffin's  views  on,  277, 
footnote;  muster  roll  showing,  344; 
among  Comanches  abandoned,  350 

Euchees:  52 

FACTIONS:  among  Cherokees,  49-50, 
151  et  seq.,  215,  223,  240;  among 
Creeks,  192-194,  254;  among  Sem- 
inoles,  198-199;  among  Comanches, 
306 

Fairfield:  Cherokee  school  at,  39,  foot- 
note 

Fall  Leaf:  231,  footnote,  232  and  foot- 
notes, 233,  footnote 

Farnsworth,  H.  W:  229,  footnote,  272 

Fayetteville:  67,  footnote,  184,  310,  326 


Female  seminaries:  Indian  girls  at- 
tend, 67,  footnote 

Finch,  John :  30,  footnote 

Finley,  C.  A:  270 

Fishback,  William  Meade:  104,  foot- 
note 

Fleming,  Walter  L:  work  cited,  108, 
footnote 

Floyd,  John  B:  53,  296 

Folsom,  George:  23,  footnote 

Folsom,  Israel :  74 

Folsom,  Joseph  P:  77 

Folsom,  Peter:  74,  76,  196 

Folsom,  Sampson:  41,  footnote,  76,  196 

Food:  Indian  refugees  need,  260;  to 
destitute  Delawares  from  Cherokee 
country,  268,  footnote;  Creek  refu- 
gees destitute  of,  273,  footnote,  278, 
footnote;  supposed  fraudulent  char- 
acter of  contract  for  supplying,  285- 
289;  Confederate  contract  with 
Charles  B.  Johnson  for  supplying, 
301-303;  for  Comanches,  313;  to  be 
furnished  Indians  in  council  consid- 
ering amendments  to  treaties,  323 ; 
receipt  for,  furnished,  345 

Fort  Arbuckle:  54,  87,  footnote,  97, 
135,  footnote,  201,  footnote,  297,  303, 

345,  357 

Fort  Belknap :  88,  footnote 

Fort  Caleb:  295 

Fort  Cobb:  82,  footnote,  84,  footnote, 
9*>»  97,  98  and  footnote,  189,  foot- 
note, 296,  332,  356 

Fort  Coffee  Academy:  40,  footnote 

Fort  Davis:  349 

Fort  Gibson:  abandoned  as  military 
post,  53;  Major  Emory  and,  104; 
distance  from  Fort  Smith,  108 ;  Pike 
returns  to,  137,  footnote;  Armstrong 
to  meet  emigrating  Creeks  at,  193, 
footnote;  Cooper  draws  off  in  direc- 
tion of,  256 ;  money  at,  325 

Fort  Leavenworth:  88,  footnote,  103, 
208,  footnote,  251,  259,  266,  267,  270 

Fort  Lincoln:  229,  footnote,  230,  243 

Fort  McCulloch:  139,  footnote,  284 

Fort  Randall:  227,  footnote 


Index 


379 


Fort  Roe:  259  and  footnote,  275,  foot- 
note, 277,  footnote 

Fort  Scott:  249,  footnote,  266 

Fort  Smith:  headquarters  of  southern 
superintendency,  64;  evacuated,  76; 
W.  G.  Coffin  fails  to  reach,  81,  foot- 
note; Emory  reaches,  97;  Emory 
tarries  at,  99;  hot-bed  of  sectional- 
ism, 103 ;  distance  from  Fort  Gib- 
son, 108 ;  J.  J.  Gaines  reaches,  113; 
Pike  proceeds  to,  138,  footnote; 
McCulloch  at,  150;  talk  of  confis- 
cating Rector's  property  at,  182, 
footnote;  distance  from  Scullyville, 
211 ;  fire  at,  298 

Fort  Smith  Council :  192,  footnote,  226- 
227,  241 

Fort  Smith  Papers:  cited,  41,  footnote, 
43,  footnote,  50,  footnote,  104,  foot- 
note ,  197,  footnote,  198,  footnote, 
285-328 

Fort  Smith  Times:  cited,  47,  footnote 

Fort  Sumter:  118 

Fort  Towson :  40,  footnote 

Fort  Washita:  77,  91,  96,  189,  foot- 
note, 297,  303 

Fort  Wise:  210,  footnote 

Forty-niners:  covet  land  in  Indian 
country,  28 

Frauds:  William  Walker,  head  chief 
of  Wyandots,  takes  part  in  Kansas 
election,  22,  footnote 

Frazier,  Jackson:  41,  footnote 

Free  negroes :  status  among  Creeks  and 
Seminoles,  23,  footnote;  among  Choc- 
taws,  24,  footnote;  Leased  District 
rendezvous  for,  56-57 

Free-soilers :  45,  46,  113 

Free-state  expansion:  charge  that  Cal- 
houn  intended  to  prevent,  30 

Free-state  men:  intrenched  among 
Delawares  north  of  Kansas  River, 

35 

Fremont,  John  C:  214,  footnote,  215, 
footnote,  231,  232,  233,  footnote,  248, 
312 

Frontier:  action  along  Missouri-Ar- 
kansas in  Civil  War,  17;  character 


of  men  of,  114;  Indians  exploited 
for  sake  of  men  of,  170;  trouble  on, 
to  be  expected,  183,  footnote 

Frozen  Rock:  53 

Fugitive  Slave  Law:  operative  within 
Indian  country,  22,  166,  178 

GAINES,  J.  J:  113,  115,  footnote,  xx6 

Gamble,  James:  41,  footnote,  54,  foot- 
note, 197, 312 

Garland,  Samuel:  74,  76 

Garrett,  William  H:  58,  footnote,  82, 
and  footnote,  183,  184,  192,  194,  212, 
footnote,  324 

Georgia:  Creeks  and  Cherokees  from, 
*°)  r93>  footnote;  D.  E.  Twiggs 
from,  87 

Grayton:  exodus  from,  95 

Green,  J.  J:  105,  footnote 

Greenwood,  A.  B:  36,  footnote,  45, 
footnote,  46,  48,  113,  192,  209,  foot- 
note, 291,  292,  294 

"Grier  letter":  29,  footnote 

Griffith,  Samuel:  119,  182,  footnote, 
183-184 

Grimes,  Marshal:  56,  footnote,  57, 
footnote,  98,  footnote,  336,  337 

HAGERSTOWN  (Md.) :  Quantrill,  native 
of,  48 

Half-breeds:  status  of,  23,  footnote; 
generally  slaveholders,  46 ;  influence 
sought  in  holding  Indian  country 
for  South,  67;  planter  class  in  In- 
dian Territory,  67,  75 ;  white  men 
and  Choctaw,  hold  secession  meet- 
ing* 77  J  missionaries  fear,  78 ; 
hated  by  "loyal"  Cherokees,  139, 
footnote ;  attempt  to  force  full-bloods 
into  alliance  with  Confederacy,  216 

Halleck,  Henry  W;  215,  footnote,  275 

Hamilton,  Charles  A:  appointed  com- 
missioner, 88 ;  report,  91 

Harris,  C.  A:  193,  footnote 

Harris,  Cyrus:  41,  footnote,  69,  foot- 
note, 80,  footnote;  visited  by  com- 
missioners from  Texas,  91 

Harris,  Thomas  A:  130 


380     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Harrison,  James  E:  appointed  com- 
missioner, 88 ;  report,  91 ;  referred 
to  by  Governor  Clark,  131,  footnote 

Helena    (Ark.) :  104 

Hemphill,  John:  100,  footnote 

Hester,  G.  B:  230,  footnote 

Hicks,  Charles:  237,  footnote 

Hindman,  Thomas  C:  48,  footnote, 
105,  footnote,  357 

Hobbs,  Reverend  Doctor  S.  L:  79 

Hotchkin,  Ebenezer:  42,  76 

Houston,  Sam:  31,  footnote,  90,  93 

Howard,  O.  O:  work  cited,  220,  foot- 
note 

Hubbard,  David:  108;  letter  to  Gov- 
ernor Moore,  109-110;  nominated 
as  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
128 ;  Pike  hopes  for  cooperation, 
141 ;  receives  instructions  from 
Walker,  142-143;  ill-health,  143, 
footnote;  writes  to  John  Ross,  144- 
145;  reply  of  John  Ross  to,  146- 
147;  instructed  not  to  offer  state- 
hood, 161 ;  advice  to  Crawford,  308 ; 
advises  economy,  315 

Hudson,  George:  77,  80,  footnote;  de- 
clares Choctaw  Nation  "free  and 
independent,"  156;  dealings  with 
Pike,  196;  proclamation,  196,  210 

Humboldt:  243,  footnote,  247 

Humphreys,  John  J:  185,  218,  footnote 

Hunter,  David:  248,  249,  and  foot- 
note, 250,  251,  260,  266,  270,  275, 
276,  312 

Hyams,  S.  M:  155 

ILLINOIS:  tribes  from,  19 

Indian  adoption:  169 

Indian  camp:  Lane  plans  establish- 
ment to  prevent  foraging  into  Kan- 
sas, 230;  to  be  located  in  Cherokee 
Neutral  Lands,  233  ;  Cooper  reaches, 
254 

Indian  country:  west  of  Arkansas  and 
Missouri,  19;  tribes  within,  indige- 
nous and  emigrant,  19  and  footnote; 
population,  20-21 ;  cut  in  two  by 
Missouri  Compromise  line,  20;  res- 


ervation system  established,  21 ; 
listed  with  District  of  Columbia  as 
strictly  federal  soil,  22;  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  declared  operative  with- 
in, 22;  presence  of  free  negroes 
sometimes  source  of  grave  danger, 
23,  footnote;  constantly  beset  by  dif- 
ficulties, 24,  27;  likely  to  be  greatly 
reduced  in  area  by  Manypenny 
treaties,  35;  intruders  attracted  by 
supposed  mines  of  precious  metals, 
35,  footnote;  rivalry  among  churches, 
37;  intruders  to  be  removed  by 
Agent  Cowart,  46;  practically  no 
U.S.  troops  within,  52-53 ;  northern 
tribes  of  less  importance  politically 
than  southern,  62,  footnote;  slave- 
holding  politicians  work  through 
halfbreeds  to  hold  for  South,  67; 
strategic  importance  of,  appreciated 
by  Arkansas,  108 ;  military  neces- 
sity of  securing,  131;  Pike  describes 
sojourn  in,  134  et  seg.,  footnote; 
McCulloch  to  give  military  protec- 
tion to,  148;  McCulloch  lays  plans 
for  taking  possession  of,  149 ;  estab- 
lishment of  Confederate  States 
courts  promised  by  treaty  with  great 
tribes,  177;  postal  system  to  be 
maintained  throughout,  180;  U.S. 
War  Department  resolves  upon  ex- 
pedition to,  270 

Indian  Home  Guards:  Pike  in  favor 
of  Indians  as,  132;  no  evi- 
dence that  Indians  wanted  ex- 
clusively as,  148 ;  individual 
Cherokees  as,  149-151;  disposition 
to  keep  Indians  as,  212;  Ross's  plan 
defeated  by  McCulloch,  226-227; 
authorized  by  Cherokee  Executive 
National  Council,  226 ;  Drew's  regi- 
ment tendered  to  McCulloch,  227; 
Drew's  regiment  escorts  Pike  to 
Park  Hill,  240 

Indian  Intercourse  Law:  difficulty  in 
enforcing,  24,  footnote ;  Greenwood's 
exposition  of,  290;  Leeper  asks  for 
copy,  315;  Leeper  reports  troops 


Index 


necessary    to    enforce    law    within 
Leased  District,  346 

Indian  Property  Rights:  put  in  jeop- 
ardy by  pioneer  advance,  28 ;  in 
trans-Missouri  region,  29;  rendered 
secure  by  treaty  promises,  chap,  iii 

Indian  Removal:  policy,  19,  footnote; 
law  for,  19,  footnote;  indemnifica- 
tion for,  164-166 

Indian  States  in  Union:  suggested  by 
southern  politicians,  31;  suggested 
by  Texas  newspapers,  31,  footnote; 
Confederacy  promises  to  Choctaws, 
78 ;  no  assurance  of,  to  be  given  by 
Hubbard,  143 ;  promised  in  treaties 
made  by  Confederacy,  160  and  foot- 
note, 161 ;  Davis  calls  attention  to 
clauses  in  Indian  treaties  providing 
for,  203 ;  Provisional  Congress  mod- 
ifies treaty  guarantee  for,  204 

Indian  Territory:  small  tribes  find 
their  way  to,  19,  footnote;  annexed 
for  judicial  purposes  to  Western 
District  of  Arkansas,  23,  footnote; 
in  danger  of  being  abolitionized, 
41-42 ;  only  home  for  Indians  from 
Kansas,  36;  drouth  in,  58;  political 
status  of  tribes  in,  62,  footnote; 
position  with  respect  to  Texas  and 
Arkansas,  63 ;  topographical  de- 
scription of,  63 ;  early  interest  of 
Texas  and  Arkansas  in,  67;  half- 
breeds  of,  a  planter  class,  67,  75 ; 
Knights  of  Golden  Circle  active  in, 
68 ;  Indians  to  be  driven  out  of,  76 ; 
cut  off  from  communication  with 
U.S.  Indian  Office,  81,  footnote; 
agents  within,  all  southern  men,  82 ; 
Commissioner  Dole  urges  reoccupa- 
tion  of,  241 ;  strategical  importance 
of,  242;  included  within  Trans- 
Mississippi  District  of  Department 
No.  2,  280 

Indian  trade:  licenses  for,  59-60;  reg- 
ulations respecting,  169-171 

Indiana:  tribes  from,  19;  W.  G.  Cof- 
fin from,  80 
,-,  Indians:  lands  granted  in  perpetuity, 


18 ;  participation  in  American  Civil 
War  inevitable,  18 ;  as  emigrants, 
19 ;  number  of  colonized,  20-21 ; 
proportion  of  southern  to  northern, 
21 ;  slaves  enticed  away  by  aboli- 
tionists, 23 ;  seized  as  fugitives  by 
southern  men,  23  ;  interests  militated 
indirectly  against  by  Dred  Scott  de- 
cision, 29 ;  territorial  form  of  gov- 
ernment for,  30,  footnote,  31,  foot- 
note ;  treaty  rights  likely  to  be  seri- 
ously affected  by  repeal  of  Missouri 
Compromise,  34;  plan  for  coloniz- 
ing Texas,  52,  55;  Knights  of  Gol- 
den Circle  active  among,  68 ;  con- 
dition of,  reported  by  Texas  com- 
missioners, 94;  Choctaw  and  Chick- 
asaw  friendly  to  Confederate  States, 
loo,  footnote;  enlistment,  132,  147- 
*49>  I5S>  *8i,  footnote,  207,  210, 
211-212,  227,  footnote,  248,  250,  252, 
footnote,  270,  275,  279 ;  treaties  with 
Confederate  States,  157-158,  202- 
206;  judicial  rights  under  treaties 
with  Confederate  States,  172-174; 
military  support  secured  early  by 
Confederacy,  207 ;  use  of,  by  U.S. 
as  soldiers  uncertain,  227  et  seq.; 
not  subject  to  conscription,  228,  foot- 
note; reported  arming  themselves 
on  southern  border  of  Kansas,  228, 
footnote;  conference  with  Lane  at 
Fort  Lincoln,  230 ;  totally  abandoned 
by  U.S.  government,  262,  footnote; 
see  also  under  names  of  individual 
nations  and  tribes 

Interior  Department:  53,  80,  218,  foot- 
note, 242,  265,  273 

Interlopers:  encourage  slavery  within 
Indian  country,  22;  see  also  In- 
truders 

Inter-tribal  Conference :  documents  re- 
lating to,  called  by  the  Chickasaws, 
68,  footnote;  assembling  of,  at 
Creek  Agency,  70;  attendance,  71; 
action,  71-72 ;  action  not  officially  re- 
ported to  U.S.  government,  82; 
Motey  Kennard  and  Echo  Harjo  in 


382     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Washington  at  time,  was  planned, 
192;  Indians  solicit,  209,  footnote; 
Lane  arranges  for,  to  meet  at  Fort 
Lincoln,  243,  246;  Coffin  desires,  at 
Humboldt,  247;  plans  for,  at  Le- 
roy,  248 ;  Hunter  instructed  to  hold, 
250;  difference  between,  as  planned 
by  Lane  and  by  Hunter,  250,  foot- 
note; John  T.  Cox  gives  account  of, 
262,  footnote 

Interview:  of  Pike  and  McCulloch 
with  Cherokee  Confederate  sym- 
pathizers, 135,  footnote,  152;  of 
Lane  with  representatives  of  various 
tribes  at  Fort  Lincoln  proposed, 
243,  246;  of  Coffin  with  Carruth, 
243,  footnote;  of  Carruth  with 
Creek  delegation,  245 

Intrigue :  and  diplomacy  to  effect  Sem- 
inole  removal  from  Florida,  20, 
footnote;  Pike  expected  to  succeed 
in,  with  Southern  Indians,  86,  foot- 
note 

Intruders:  to  be  removed  by  Agent 
Cowart,  46;  interfere  with  slavery, 
47;  Confederate  military  authority 
to  supplement  tribal  in  expulsion  of, 
169 ;  Agent  Butler's  reports,  285 ; 
Greenwood  discusses  matter  with 
Rector,  290-291 ;  Cowart  reports 
progress  in  removal  of,  295,  296, 
297;  Cowart  gives  notice  to  John 
B.  Jones  to  leave  Cherokee  Nation, 
296 ;  see  also  Interlopers 

lowas:  189,  footnote 

Irish,  O.  H:  227,  footnote 

lyanubbi:  Choctaw  school  at,  39,  foot- 
note 

JACKSON,  ANDREW:  19;  inducements 
offered  to  Indians,  58 ;  procedure  of, 
72;  opposed  to  political  tenets  of 
John  C.  Calhoun,  133 

Jayhawking:  of  Lane's  brigade,  233, 
234,  277 

Jennison,  C.  R:  275,  footnote 

Jesup,  Thomas  S:  164,  footnote,  165 

Jim  Ned:  306,  330,  341 


Jim  Pockmark:  306,  338 

John  Chupco:  198,  footnote,  199 

John  Jumper:  and  Seminole  removal, 
20,  footnote ;  favors  boarding  schools 
for  youth  of  tribe,  40,  footnote ;  ap- 
proached by  Albert  Pike,  85,  foot- 
note, 197,  footnote,  198,  footnote; 
signs  complaint  against  General 
Jesup,  164,  footnote;  signs  treaty 
with  Confederate  States,  198 ;  sig- 
nature attached  to  Comanche  treat- 
ies, 200,  footnote;  doing  duty  faith- 
fully, 319;  letter  to,  337 

Johnson,  Charles  B:  56,  footnote,  98, 
footnote,  105,  footnote,  190,  footnote, 
199,  287,  289,  301,  314,  323,  332, 
352 

Johnson,  F:  231,  footnote,  232,  248,  and 
footnote,  329,  footnote 

Johnson,  James  B:  105,  footnote 

Johnson,  Richard  H :  47,  footnote,  105, 
footnote 

Johnson,  Robert  W:  31,  footnote,  47, 
footnote,  105,  footnote,  127;  corre- 
spondence with  Albert  Pike,  131, 
132;  motion,  204;  Crawford  serves 
by  request,  308;  elected  senator,  334 

Johnson,  Thomas :  slavery-propaga- 
tion work  among  Indians,  22,  foot- 
note, 39 

Johnson,  W.  Warren:  303 

Johnson:  exodus  from,  95 

Jones,  Evan:  47,  93,  135,  footnote,  217, 
218,  footnote,  236,  240,  footnote,  292, 
293 

Jones,  H.  P:  199,  348,  350 

Jones,  John:  309 

Jones,  John  B:  47,  269,  footnote,  296 

Jones,  R.  M:  75,  77,  79,  197,  344'345 

Journeycake,  Charles:  231,  footnote, 
268,  footnote 

Jumper,  John:  see  John  Jumper 

KA-HI-KE-TUNG-KA  :  238,  footnote 
Kannady,  J.  R:  125 
Kansa:  indigenous  to  Kansas,  19;  suf- 
fering of,  209,  footnote 
Kansas:  Indian  tribes  in,   19;   agita- 


Index 


383 


tion  for  the  opening  up  of,  28 ;  com- 
pared with  Choctaw  country,  31, 
footnote',  suggested  organization 
causes  excitement  among  Indians, 
33-34;  citizens  encroach  upon  Cher- 
okee Neutral  Lands,  46;  drouth  in, 
58 ;  political  status  of  tribes  in,  62, 
footnote',  and  Cherokee  Outlet,  64; 
Elder,  citizen  of,  186;  Pike  desires 
to  raise  Indian  battalion,  207;  In- 
dians -wish  to  fight,  227,  footnote 
Kansas  Historical  Society:  Collections, 

19,  footnote,  34,  footnote 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill :  effect  upon  In- 
dian interests,  29,  35;  settlers  de- 
mand Indians  to  vacate  territory 
covered  by,  36 ;  Seward's  speech 
on,  58-59 

Kansas  Territory:  first  districting  il- 
legally included  Indian  lands,  35; 
free-state  settlers  charge  Buchanan 
government  with  bad  faith,  37 
Kappler,  C.  J:  work  cited,  20,  footnote, 
34,  footnote,  49,  footnote,  50,  foot- 
note, 52,  footnote 
Kaskaskias:  from  Illinois,  19 
Keitt,  Lawrence  M:  127,  129 
Kennedy,  John  C:  211,  footnote 
Kickapoos:  from  Indiana,  19;  tarry  in 
Missouri,    19,    footnote;    denomina- 
tionalism  among,  37,  footnote;  ref- 
ugees, 56,  footnote;  Leeper  to  com- 
municate with,  in  name  of  Albert 
Pike,   181,  footnote;  Pike  hopes  to 
meet,  189,  footnote 
Kile,  William:  261,  footnote,  274 
Kingsbury,  Rev.  Cyrus:  40,  and  foot- 
note, 43,  footnote,  76 
Kingsbury  Jr.,  Cyrus:  79 
Kiowas:  52;  Texans  reported  tamper- 
ing with,  210,  footnote;  messengers 
from,    309;    talk    for,    320;    treaty 
with,  to  be  effected,  323,  331;  dele- 
gation of,  324;  Big-head,  chief  of, 
342;  Lone  Wolf,  chief  of,  350;  E-sa- 
sem-mus,  chief  of,  350;  annual  fes- 
tival of,  351;  treaty  with,  354 


Knights  of  Golden  Circle:  probable 
influence  with  Arkansas  Legislature, 
68,  footnote;  evidence  of  activity 
among  Indians,  68;  halfbreeds  be- 
long to,  86,  footnote 

Koonsha  Female  Seminary:  40,  foot- 
note 

LANDS:  plot  to  dispossess  Indian  of, 
18;  pledged  by  U.S.  government  as 
Indian  possession  in  perpetuity,  18, 
28 ;  of  Cherokees  extended  north  of 
thirty-seventh  parallel,  21 ;  of  In- 
dians coveted  by  Forty-niners,  28; 
of  Indians  in  Kansas  excluded  from 
local  governmental  control,  35;  al- 
lotment in  severally  proposed  to 
Creeks,  Choctaws,  and  Chickasaws, 
58 ;  violation  of  treaties  to  cost  In- 
dians their,  86,  footnote;  property 
rights  of  Indians  guaranteed  by 
Confederacy,  161  et  seq.;  Indians 
to  have  right  to  dispose  of  by  will, 
172;  Cherokee  halfbreeds  fear  de- 
signs upon  Indian,  216 

Lane,  James  H:  125,  229,  231,  foot- 
note, 233,  242,  251  and  footnote,  265, 
270,  276,  278 

Lane,  W.  P:  357 

Laughinghouse,  G.  W:  120 

Leased  District:  52  and  footnote,  54, 
56,  57,  footnote,  63,  67,  96,  179,  199, 
297,  340,  349 

Lee,  Robert  E:  88,  footnote,  98,  foot- 
note, 99 

Lee,  S.  Orlando:  letter,  75-79,  197, 
footnote 

Leeper,  Matthew:  57  and  footnote,  82 
and  footnote,  96,  98  and  footnote,  99, 
180,  footnote,  199,  footnote,  303, 
304-307,  311,  315-319;  removal  of, 
asked  for  by  Rector,  323 ;  death  of, 
329,  footnote;  charges  against,  333 

Leeper  Papers:  cited,  57,  footnote,  99, 
footnote,  102,  footnote,  181,  footnote, 
186,  footnote,  199,  footnote,  200, 
footnote,  201,  footnote,  329-357 


384     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Lee's  Creek:  Cherokee  school  at,  39, 
footnote 

Lefontaine,  Louis:  208,  footnote 

Leroy:  248,  266 

Lincoln,  Abraham:  68,  76,  80,  86,  foot- 
note, 93,  95,  n8,  122,  footnote,  182, 
185,  234  and  footnote,  250,  265,  foot- 
note, 266,  274,  276,  278 

Little  Captain:  277,  footnote 

Little  Rock:  103,  108,  190,  footnote 

London,  John  T:  104,  footnote 

Long  John:  198,  footnote 

Love,  Overton:  23,  footnote 

Lower  Creeks:  50,  80,  footnote,  192, 
244 

Lowrie,  Walter:  75 

"Loyal  Creeks":  192,  footnote,  193, 194, 
footnote,  195,  199,  243-246,  250,  254, 
259;  sufferings,  260;  measures  for 
relief  of,  260  et  seq.,  272;  annuities 
of  "hostiles"  to  be  applied  to  relief 
of,  274 

Luce,  John  B:  125,  182,  footnote 

MCCARRON,  THOMAS:  311 

McClellan,  George  B:  265,  footnote, 
275,  276 

McCulloch,  Ben:  85,  footnote,  120, 
*35»  footnote,  141,  143-144;  letter  of 
Hubbard  to,  144-145 ;  attempt  to  se- 
cure Cherokee  help,  149-153;  com- 
munication with  John  Ross,  149 ;  re- 
ply of  John  Ross  to,  150;  correspon- 
dence with  Secretary  Walker,  151, 
and  footnote;  reports  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws  as  anxious  to  join  Con- 
federacy, 155;  accompanies  Albert 
Pike,  189,  footnote',  gives  authority 
for  calling  out  six  hundred  rangers 
from  Fort  Cobb,  198,  footnote;  ob- 
jects to  appointment  of  Garrett  as 
colonel  of  Creek  regiment,  212,  foot- 
note; acts  under  direct  orders  from 
Richmond,  225 ;  promises  to  protect 
Cherokee  borders,  227 ;  orders  Stand 
Watie  to  take  up  position  in  Chero- 
kee Neutral  Lands,  252,  footnote; 
goes  to  Richmond,  257,  footnote 


McCulloch,  Henry  E:  99,  footnote,  207 

McCulloch,  Thomas  C:  210,  footnote 

McDaniel,  James:  262,  footnote,  268, 
and  footnote 

Machinations :  secessionist  sympathy  of 
Indians  not  due  to,  of  agents  and 
others,  219,  footnote 

Mclntosh,  Chilly:  92,  140,  footnote, 
193,  and  footnote,  200,  footnote 

Mclntosh,  D.  N:  92 

Mclntosh,  James:  256  et  seq. 

Mclntosh,  Roily:  193,  footnote 

Mclntosh,  William:  191,  footnote,  193, 
footnote;  attempts  to  bribe  John 
Ross,  236,  footnote 

McRae,  John  J:  presents  petition  for 
removal  of  Choctaws,  20,  footnote 

McWillie,  M.  H:  207,  footnote 

Mails:  insecurity,  116;  none  in  Indian 
country,  190,  footnote;  irregularity, 
230,  252,  footnote ;  must  be  provided 
for  in  Leased  District,  309 ;  Rector 
has  no  authority  to  establish,  332 

Malfeasance:  Rev.  Thomas  Johnson 
suspected  of,  39,  41 ;  few  Indian 
Office  officials  free  from,  56,  foot- 
note; Washburn  implicated  in,  85, 
footnote;  Indian  agents  guilty  of, 
262,  footnote 

Manassas  Junction:  battle  of,  216 

Mandan:  suggested  territory  of,  32, 
footnote 

Manypenny,  George  W:  30,  footnote; 
Indian  treaties  made  by,  33,  foot- 
note, 3  5 ;  promises  to  look  into  ex- 
pediency of  Comanche  removal,  51, 
footnote;  suggests  giving  Indians 
control  of  trade,  170 

Marcy,  William  L:  165,  footnote 

Marshall,  F.  J:  207 

Marysville:  207 

Mass-meeting:  of  Cherokees  at  Tahle- 
quah,  217  et  seq.,  226,  234 

Mathews,  John:  235,  footnote,  239 

Mayers,  Abram  G:  56,  footnote,  197, 
footnote,  230,  footnote,  287,  288,  289, 
312 

Mayes,  Joel:  214,  footnote 


Index 


385 


Medicines:  Texans  seize,  305,  308; 
Leeper's  requisition  can  not  be  hon- 
ored, 330-331 

Memphis  (Tenn.) :  97,  104,  134,  foot- 
note 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South :  37, 
footnote,  38,  40,  footnote 

Methodists:  38 

Mexican  War:  effect  upon  Indian  in- 
terests, 28;  service  of  Pike  in,  132 

Miamies:  from  Indiana,  19;  charges 
against  Agent  Clover,  209,  footnote 

Michigan:  tribes  from,  19 

Mikko  Hutke:  194,  244 

Military  Board  of  Arkansas:  190 

Minnesota:  territory  of  Decotah  to  be 
carved  out  of,  31,  footnote 

Mission:  of  Pike,  134  et  seq.;  of  Hub- 
bard,  143  et  seq.;  of  Carruth,  242, 
246-247 

Missionaries:  encourage  slavery  with- 
in Indian  country,  22;  among  In- 
dians, 39  et  seq.;  suspected  of  at- 
tempting to  abolitionize  Indian 
country,  41 ;  charged  with  inciting 
to  murder,  47;  search  organization 
among  Cherokees  due  to,  48 

Missionary  Herald:  cited,  40,  footnote, 
41,  footnote 

Missions:  39  et  seq.,  143 

Mississippi :  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws 
from,  20 ;  Choctaws  in,  fight  on  side 
of  South,  20,  footnote;  Cooper,  citi- 
zen of,  41 

Mississippi  River:  17,  63 

Missouri:  Kickapoos,  Shawnees,  and 
Delawares  tarry  in,  19,  footnote;  in- 
terests herself  in  Indian  alliance,  83 

Missouri  Compromise:  line  approxi- 
mately boundary  between  northern 
and  southern  Indian  immigrants,  21 ; 
encroachment  upon  northern  rights 
under,  22 ;  as  affected  by  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  30 

Mitchell,  Charles  B:  97,  98,  334 

Montgomery:  76,  87,  footnote,  94,  109, 
192,  196,  297 

Moore,  Andrew  B:  108 


Moore,  Frank:  work  cited,  45,  foot- 
note, 125,  footnote,  227,  footnote 

Moore,  Thomas  O:  155,  192,  footnote 

Moo-sho-le-tubbee :  district  of,  34, 
footnote 

Moravians:  38 

Morton,  Jackson:  127 

Motey  Kennard:  58,  footnote,  80,  foot- 
note, 92,  94,  119,  191,  and  footnote, 
*93>  *99>  20°,  footnote,  218,  footnote, 
243,  337 

Mound  City:  230,  footnote 

Munsees:  from  Ohio,  19;  Moravians 
among,  38 

Murphy,  J:  119 

Mus-co-kee:  territory  of  suggested, 
31,  footnote 

NAVAJOE:  suggested  territory  of,  32, 
footnote 

Ne-a-math-la:  193,  footnote 

Nebraska:  indigenous  tribes  in,  19, 
footnote;  agitation  for  opening  up 
of,  28 ;  drouth  in,  57 

Ne-con-he-con :  268,  footnote 

Negroes:  Choctaws  charged  with  mix- 
ing with,  20,  footnote;  Creeks  al- 
most completely  mixed  with,  22, 
footnote;  Creeks  possess  no  aversion 
to  race  mixture,  23,  footnote;  no 
rights  that  white  men  are  bound  to 
respect,  29 ;  Quantrill  plans  to  res- 
cue, 48 ;  Indians  agree  to  return 
fugitive,  166,  footnote;  six  hundred, 
seized  by  Kansans,  334 

Neighbors,   Robert  S:  56,  footnote 

Neosho:  suggested  territory  of,  31, 
footnote 

Neosho  River:  208,  277,  footnote 

Neosho  River  Agency:  30,  footnote; 
invaded,  35,  footnote;  Elder  put  in 
charge  of,  186;  Indians  of,  at  Fort 
Smith  Council,  241 

Neutrality:  McCulloch  agrees  to  re- 
spect Cherokee,  136,  footnote;  of 
Indians  scarcely  possible,  145  ;  Chief 
Ross  gives  reasons  for  preserving, 
147,  150;  Chief  Ross  objects  to  vio- 


386      The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


lation  of,  150;  majority  of  Chero- 
kees  favor,  153;  Chief  Ross's  Proc- 
lamation of,  153-154;  discussion  in 
Cherokee  meeting  at  Tahlequah, 
220  et  seq. ;  McCulloch  orders  Stand 
Watie's  men  not  to  interfere  with 
Cherokee,  227 

New  Hope  Academy:  40,  footnote 
New  Orleans  Picayune:  32,  footnote 
Newspapers:  47,  75,  80,  footnote 
New  York  Indians:  from  Wisconsin, 
19;  reservation  invaded,  35;  mem- 
bers of  Neosha  River  Agency,  51 ; 
Refugees  camp  upon  lands  of,  260 
North   Carolina:    Cherokees    fight  on 

side  of  South,  20,  footnote 
North  Fork  Village:  92,  94,  95,  157, 

188,  192 
North    Fork    of    Canadian:    67,    136, 

footnote,  189,   footnote,  254 
Northern   Baptists:  38,   39 
Northern    Indians:    colonized    within 
limits  of  great  American  desert,  18 ; 
relative  position  of,  21 ;  Pike  hoped 
to  exert  influence  over,  208 ;  report- 
ed organized  into  spy  companies  by 
Federals,  306 

OAK  HILLS,  or  Wilson's  Creek:  battle 
of,  215,  216,  225,  257,  footnote 

Ochiltree,  William  B:  129 

Office  of  Indian  Affairs:  plans  for  re- 
moval of  Catawbas  from  Carolinas, 
20,  footnote',  takes  measures  for  re- 
moval of  Seminoles  from  Florida, 
20,  footnote',  refuses  to  remove 
Choctaws  from  Mississippi,  20, 
footnote;  unable  to  execute  plan  for 
removal  of  Texas  Indians  before 
1859,  52;  reply  of  Creeks  to  pro- 
posals, 58;  patronage  of,  59;  out  of 
communication  with  Indian  Terri- 
tory, 8 1,  footnote;  complaint  filed 
at,  96 ;  in  possession  of  documents 
incriminating  D.  H.  Cooper,  186; 
discontinues  Indian  allowances,  192; 
supports  War  Department,  271 


Ogden,  John  B:  89,  footnote,  108, 
footnote,  115,  footnote 

Ohio:  people  of,  desire  information 
about  Manypenny  treaties,  33,  foot- 
note 

Okanagan:  suggested  territory  of,  32, 
footnote 

Ok-ta-ha-hassee  Harjo  [Sands] :  194, 
244,  and  footnote 

Old  Choctaw  Agency:  211,  footnote 

Oldham,  W.  S:  100,  footnote 

Old  Scottish  Gentleman:  107  and 
footnote 

Old  Settlers  Party:  49 

Omaha  Mission  School:  youths  from, 
enlist  in  army,  227,  footnote 

Omahas:  227,  footnote 

Opoeth-le-yo-ho-la:  138,  footnote,  193 
and  footnote,  194,  195,  footnote,  198, 
footnote,  236,  footnote,  243,  253, 
footnote,  254  et  seq.,  268,  278 

Oregon:  occupied,  28 

Osage  Manual  Labor  School:  38, 
footnote 

Osage  Mission:  182,  footnote 

Osage  River  Agency:  208,  footnote 

Osage  Treaty:  157  and  footnote;  lands 
in  Kansas  guaranteed  by,  162; 
model  on  subject  of  rendition  of 
slaves,  167;  navigable  waters,  175; 
negotiated,  237 

Osages:  indigenous  to  Kansas,  19; 
Great  and  Little,  20,  footnote;  res- 
ervation invaded,  35,  295;  deter- 
mined to  resist  removal,  36 ;  Roman 
Catholicism  among,  38;  members  of 
Neosho  River  Agency,  51 ;  negotia- 
tions with  Pike,  137,  footnote;  de- 
scribed as  "lazy,"  208,  footnote; 
letter  to,  from  John  Ross,  235,  236, 
footnote;  bands  of,  237 

Otis,  Elmer:  210,  footnote 

Otoes:  209,  footnote 

Ottawas:  from  Michigan,  19;  regard 
removal  as  useless,  36,  footnote; 
Baptists  among,  38 

Ozark  Mountains:  19,  footnote 


Index 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD  SURVEYS:  cited,  54, 
footnote 

Pa-hiu-ska:  238,  footnote 

Panola:  county  of,  68,  footnote 

Pape,   Henry:  182,  footnote 

Park  Hill:  Cherokee  school  at,  39, 
footnote',  residence  of  John  Ross, 
135,  footnote,  188,  footnote',  John 
Ross  at,  150;  W.  S.  Robertson  re- 
tires to,  218,  footnote;  Pike  invited 
to,  234;  treaties  negotiated  at,  237 

Parker,  Eli  S:  228,  footnote 

Parker,  Thomas  Valentine:  work  cit- 
ed, 49,  footnote 

Parks,  Robert  W:  355 

Pas-co-fa:  198   and  footnote,  319 

Pawnees:  purchase  from,  33,  footnote; 
offer  to  enlist  in  U.  S.  army  de- 
clined, 227,  footnote 

Pea  Ridge:  battle  of,  138,  footnote,  284 

Pearce,  N.  Bart:  120,  131 

Pegg,  Major:  256,  257 

Peoria,  Baptiste:  235,   footnote 

Peorias:  from  Illinois,  19 

Petition:  of  Representative  John  J. 
McRae,  20,  footnote 

Phelps,  J.  S:  81,  footnote;  211,  foot- 
note, 240,  footnote 

Phillips,  U.  B:  work  cited,  134,  foot- 
note, 191,  footnote 

Piankeshaws:  from  Illinois,  19 

Pickens:  county  of,  68,  footnote 

Pierce,  Franklin :  41,  footnote,  56,  foot- 
note 

Pike,  Albert:  dislike  of  Van  Dora,  55, 
footnote;  concerned  with  Choctaw 
Corn  Contract,  57,  footnote;  and 
Choctaw  commissioners,  78 ;  writes 
to  Seminole  chief,  84,  footnote;  tel- 
egram, 105,  footnote;  poem  in  hon- 
or of  Elias  Rector,  106;  correspon- 
dence with  Robert  Toombs,  129, 
131,  134  and  footnote,  152  and  foot- 
note ;  appointed  by  President  Davis 
special  commissioner  to  Indians 
west  of  Arkansas,  130;  correspon- 
dence with  R.  W.  Johnson,  131,  132; 
writings,  132,  footnote,  133  and 


footnote;  unjust  to  John  Ross,  134, 
footnote;  commissioner  from  Arkan- 
sas, 190-191;  views  on  use  of  In- 
dians as  soldiers,  149 ;  continues 
intercourse  with  Ridge  Party,  156 
and  footnote;  moderate  in  promises 
to  strong  tribes,  163  ;  assumes  finan- 
cial obligations  in  name  of  Confed- 
eracy, 163-164;  opens  communica- 
tion with  Indian  field  service,  180- 
181;  offers  post  to  Leeper,  180,  foot- 
note; negotiates  with  Creeks,  192- 
195 ;  negotiates  with  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws,  196-197;  negotiates 
with  Seminoles,  197-199;  negotiates 
with  western  Indians,  200-202,  200, 
footnote;  report  submitted  by  Pres- 
ident Davis  to  Provisional  Congress, 
202;  invited  to  be  present  at  con- 
sideration of  Indian  treaties,  205 ; 
desires  to  raise  an  Indian  battalion 
from  Kansas,  208;  informed  of 
Cherokee  willingness  to  treat,  234; 
assigned  to  command  of  Indian 
Territory,  253-254,  322;  Van  Dorn's 
plans  for,  280,  283 ;  retires  to  Fort 
McCulloch,  284;  continues  Charles 
B.  Johnson  as  contractor,  301-303 ; 
receives  Leeper's  apology,  356 

Pike,  W.  L:  194 

Pine  Ridge:  43,   footnote 

Pins:  86,  footnote,  135,  footnote,  137, 
footnote,  138,  footnote,  216 

Pioneers:  18,  footnote 

Pitchlynn,  P.  P:  74,  77 

Pitchlynn,  W.  B:  197 

Policy:  of  U.S.  government  with  re- 
spect to  Indians,  18;  of  Confeder- 
ate States  government,  147 

Politicians:  as  influencing  Indian  pol- 
icy of  government,  18,  footnote;  mo- 
tives of,  21 ;  demands  of,  for  In- 
dians, 31;  reason  for  urging  seces- 
sion among  Indians,  98,  footnote; 
unjust  charges  against  Ross,  150 

Polk,  James  K:  work  cited,  49,  foot- 
note, 166,  footnote 

Pomeroy,  Samuel  C:  231,  footnote 


388      The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Pontotoc:  county  of,  68,  footnote 

Pope,  John:   105,   footnote 

Population:  of  Indian  country,  20-21; 
of  southern  superintendency,  211, 
footnote;  of  Creek  Nation  as  esti- 
mated by  Agent  Garrett  in  report 
to  Hubbard,  252-253,  footnote 

Postal  system:  to  be  maintained  by 
Confederate  States  throughout  In- 
dian country,  180 

Potaw atomies:  from  Indiana,  19;  Ro- 
man Catholicism  among,  38 ;  South- 
ern Baptists  among,  38 

Poteau  River:  108 

Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions: 37,  footnote,  40,  footnote,  41, 

79 

Presbyterians  (Old  School) :  38,  foot- 
note, 39,  40,  footnote,  41 

Price,  Sterling:  138,  footnote,  225,  257, 
footnote,  280,  283,  312,  326,  334 

Prince,  J.  E:  98,  footnote,  231,  footnote 

Proclamation:  of  Ross  pledging  Cher- 
okee neutrality,  153-154;  of  Hudson 
announcing  Choctaw  independence, 
196,  210 

Pro-slavery  men:  intrenched  among 
Shawnees  south  of  Kansas  River, 
35 ;  settled  upon  Cherokee  Neutral 
Lands,  35,  footnote 

Protectorate:  over  Indian  tribes  sug- 
gested, 130,  142,  158,  190 

Provisional  Congress  of  Confederate 
States:  act  of,  May  21,  1861,  130, 
158  and  footnote;  considers  treaties 
with  Indian  tribes,  202-206 

Pulliam,  Richard  P:  183,  footnote,  184, 
294,  295,  297,  311,  324 

Pushmataha:  George  Folsom,  chief  of 
district  of,  23,  footnote;  District 
of,  34,  footnote 

QUAKERS:  39 

Quantrill,  Wm.  Clarke:  48,  214,  foot- 
note 

Quapaw  Treat}-:  157  and  footnote 
Quapaws:  51,  64,  67;  in  council  with 


Creeks,    Cherokees,    Seminoles,    and 
Sacs,    94;    negotiations    with    Pike, 
136,  footnote,  235,  footnote,  237 
Quesenbury,   William:    183,    footnote, 
184,  190,  footnote,  194,  303,  323 

RAY,  P.  ORMAN:  work  cited,  22,  foot- 
note, 34,  footnote,  38,  footnote 
Reagan,  J.  H:  230,  footnote 
Rector,  Elias:  superintends  removal 
of  Seminoles,  20,  footnote,  182,  foot- 
note; demands  for  Indians,  31,  foot- 
note; Cooper  writes  to,  42;  urges 
that  Frozen  Rock  be  converted  into 
military  post,  53 ;  enters  into  sort 
of  private  contract  with  Johnson 
and  Grimes,  56  and  footnote; 
Grimes  and,  57,  footnote,  285-289; 
relieved,  80,  footnote;  seconds  ef- 
forts of  cousin,  106;  suggestion  to 
Cooper,  106-107,  footnote,  187;  gives 
letter  of  introduction  to  Gaines,  113  ; 
gives  information  concerning  Choc- 
taws  and  Chickasaws,  120;  attempt 
of  U.  S.  government  to  find  success- 
or to,  182;  uncertainty  as  to  when 
entering  Confederate  service,  182, 
footnote;  interview  with  Pike,  190, 
footnote;  in  company  of  Pike,  197, 
198,  footnote;  writes  to  Leeper,  199, 
footnote;  expense  account  of,  304; 
complaint  against  Pike,  328 
Rector,  Henry  M:  102,  112 
Red  Fork  of  Canadian:  67,  255 
Red  River:  55,  63,  77,  91,  95,  too  and 
footnote,  108,  139,  footnote,  175, 

347,  349 

Refugees:  Opoethleyohola,  leader  of, 
195 ;  Coffin  prepares  to  meet,  259 ; 
take  up  station  between  Verdigris 
and  Arkansas  Rivers,  259 ;  approx- 
imate number  of,  260  and  footnote; 
sufferings  of,  260-261  and  footnotes, 
265,  footnote,  272;  absolute  destitu- 
tion of,  273,  footnote ;  Dole  furnish- 
es supplies  to,  274;  joint  resolution 
for  relief  of,  274;  annuities  of  hos- 


Index 


389 


tile  Indians  to  be  diverted  to  relief 
of,  274  and  footnote 

Regiment:  Colonel  Cooper's  filled  with 
Texans,  78 ;  Choctaw-Chickasaw 
and  Creek,  210-211;  Creek,  to  elect 
its  own  officers,  213;  Drew's,  or- 
ganized, 226-227;  work  and  char- 
acter of  Drew's,  240  and  footnote; 
of  Choctaw-Chickasaw  Mounted 
Rifles,  of  Creeks,  and  of  Cherokee 
Mounted  Rifles,  252,  footnote,  262, 
footnote;  Drew's  deserts  Cooper, 
256 ;  only  one  white,  in  whole  In- 
dian Department,  280;  Leeper  asks 
for  at  least  one,  to  keep  order  on 
Reserve,  349 

Reid,  Alexander:  76,  78 

Removal:  of  Indians  more  or  less 
compulsory,  19  and  footnote;  slav- 
ery advanced  as  objection  to  Indian, 
21-22 ;  makes  no  difference  in  mat- 
ter of  slavery  among  Indians,  22; 
difficulties  within  Indian  country  in- 
cident to,  27;  Calhoun's  plan  for, 
27 ;  U.  S.  government  slow  to  adopt 
policy  of,  27-28  ;  settlers  demand,  of 
Indians  from  Kansas,  36;  certain 
tribes  contemplating,  36,  footnote; 
of  Indians  from  Kansas  delayed  on 
account  of  Civil  War,  37;  Mission- 
ary Herald  useful  for  history  of, 
40,  footnote;  reasons  for,  48;  pro- 
ject for,  of  Cherokees  causes  dis- 
*  sensions  within  tribes,  49 ;  of  Texas 
Indians,  52;  Wichitas  ask  for  im- 
mediate, 56;  guarantee  of  territorial 
integrity  in  treaties  arranging  for, 
160-161 ;  indemnification  for,  164- 
166;  Choctaw  claims  under  treaty 
of,  196 

Reservation :  system,  introduced  into 
trans-Missouri  region,  21 ;  Creeks 
disgusted  with  idea  of  individual, 

58 
Reserve  Indians:  see  Indians  of  Leased 

District,   Wichitas,   Tonkaioas,  Eu- 

chees,  etc. 
Resolutions:  of  Choctaws,  February  7, 


1861,  72-74,  75;  of  Chickasaw  Leg- 
islature, May  25,  1861,  122-124  and 
footnote;  offered  by  Chilton  of  Ala- 
bama, 127;  offered  by  Toombs  for 
appointment  of  special  agent  to  In- 
dian tribes,  129;  of  Choctaws  and 
Chickasaws  showing  friendly  dis- 
position towards  South,  130  and  foot- 
note ;  passed  at  Cherokee  mass-meet- 
ing at  Tahlequah,  August,  1861, 
218,  footnote,  223-225 ;  joint,  for  re- 
lief of  Indian  refugees  in  Kansas, 
274 

Rhodes,  J.  F:  work  cited,  45,  footnote, 
129,  footnote,  146,  footnote 

Richardson,  James  D :  work  cited,  129, 
footnote,  158,  footnote,  202,  footnote 

Ridge,  John:  47,  footnote 

Ridge,  or  Treaty  Party:  in  favor  of 
Cherokee  removal,  49;  connives 
with  Ben  McCulloch  to  circumvent 
wishes  of  Chief  Ross,  151;  minority 
party,  153 ;  Pike's  intercourse  with, 
continues,  156;  attempts  to  develop 
public  sentiment  in  favor  of  Con- 
federacy, 215 ;  collision  with  Ross 
faction,  240 

Robertson,  W.  S:  101,  footnote,  192, 
footnote,  218,  footnote 

Robinson,   Charles:  228,  234 

Rock-a-to-wa :  231,  footnote 

Rogers,  H.  L:  332,  333,  336,  337 

Rolla:  W.  S.  Robertson  fleeing  from 
Indian  country,  reaches,  218,  foot- 
note 

Roman  Catholics:  38,  footnote 

Ross,  John:  correspondence,  69,  foot- 
note, uncle  of  Wm.  P.  Ross,  71 ; 
instructions  of,  71,  footnote;  influ- 
ence, 72;  character,  72,  footnote; 
letter  of  Dole  to,  80,  footnote;  no 
one  firmer  friend  to  Union  than, 
86,  footnote;  correspondence  with 
John  B.  Ogden,  89,  footnote,  115, 
footnote;  called  upon  by  commis- 
sioners from  Texas,  93 ;  letter  from 
Governor  Rector,  112;  letter  to  Rec- 
tor, 117;  letter  from  citizens  of 


390      The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Boonsboro,  in,  footnote,  124;  J.  R. 
Kannady  communicates  with,  125 ; 
issues  proclamation  of  neutrality, 
I25i  I53-I54>'  Albert  Pike  unjust  to, 
134,  footnote  •  letter  of  Hubbard  to, 
144-145;  reply  to  Hubbard,  146-147; 
correspondence  with  Ben  McCul- 
loch,  149-151;  sincerity  possibly 
doubted,  168 ;  declared  shrewd,  189, 
footnote;  Ridge  Party  attempts  to 
undermine  popularity,  215;  attends 
meeting  of  Cherokee  Executive 
Council,  217;  address,  220,  223; 
suspected  of  not  acting  in  good 
faith,  226;  notifies  Pike  of  Chero- 
kee willingness  to  treat,  234;  com- 
municates with  Creeks  and  Osages, 
235 ;  called  upon  to  rally  Cherokees, 
256 

Ross,  Lewis:  138,  footnote 

Ross,  Mrs.  John:  220,  footnote 

Ross,  Mrs.  William  P:  work  cited,  71, 
footnote 

Ross,  William  P:  71,  89,  footnote, 
116,  footnote,  137,  footnote,  139,  foot- 
note, 217,  223 

Ross,  W.  W:  210,  footnote 

Ross  Party:  opposed  to  removal,  49; 
majority  party,  153 

Round  Mountain:  255 

Route:  of  Opoethleyohola's  retreat, 
261-262  and  footnote 

Rust,  Albert:  105,  footnote 

Rutherford,  A.  H:  30,  footnote,  190, 
footnote 

Rutherford,  Samuel  M:  86,  footnote, 
I^3,  199  and  footnote,  319 

SACKETT,  MAJOR:  98,  footnote 
Sacs  and  Foxes:  of  Missouri,  36,  foot- 
note 

San  Antonio:  52,  footnote 
Sands:  see  Ok-ta-ha-hassee  Harjo 
Schoenmaker,  John:  182,  footnote 
Scott,  S.  S:  198,  footnote,  201,  footnote, 

3i4>  32i 
Scott,  Winfield:  88,  footnote,  97,  249 


Scottish  Songs:  work  cited,  108,  foot- 
note 

Screw  Fly:  work  cited,  56,  footnote 

Scullyville:  Choctaw  constitution  of, 
51;  Creek  regiment  forming  at,  211 

Sebastian,  William  K:  106,  footnote, 
287 

Secession :  meeting  held  by  white  men 
and  Choctaw  half-bloods,  77 ;  Pres- 
byterian ordained  missionaries  favor, 
79 ;  Indian  country  threatened  by 
advocates  for,  80;  Indian  agents  ac- 
tive for,  82-83  and  footnote;  mer- 
cenary motives  in  urging,  98,  foot- 
note; sentiment  in  Arkansas,  103 
et  seq.;  Pike  offers  arguments  for, 
133 ;  secret  organization  of  "Pins," 
135,  footnote;  Stand  Watie's  party 
afraid  to  raise  flag  of,  140,  footnote ; 
large  element  within  Cherokee  Na- 
tion favors,  153 ;  Griffith  appointed 
commissioner  to  interview  Indians 
in  interests  of,  184;  Indian  oppon- 
ents absent  from  Pike's  meeting  at 
North  Fork  Village,  192;  Jones  most 
prominent  of  Choctaw  advocates, 
197;  traces  of  influence  of,  208; 
August  mass-meeting  of  Cherokees 
ending  in,  217 

Second  Seminole  War:  20,  footnote, 
23,  footnote,  164,  footnote,  164-166 

Secret  Society:  purpose  of  organiza- 
tion, 32,  footnote;  in  Missouri,  35, 
footnote;  among  full-blooded  Cher- 
okees, 48 ;  "the  Pins,"  86,  footnote, 
135,  footnote,  216;  among  Chero- 
kees for  abolition  purposes,  291, 
293 ;  Greenwood  orders  its  dissolu- 
tion, 292;  Cowart's  views  upon 
schemes  of,  294 

Sells,  Elijah:  186,  footnote 

Seminole  Treaty:  157  and  footnote; 
declares  allegiance  to  C.S.A.,  159, 
footnote;  contains  guarantee  of  au- 
tonomy, 159,  footnote;  contains 
promise  of  representation  in  Con- 
gress, 159,  footnote;  negotiated, 


Index 


391 


197-199,  197,  footnote;  considered 
by  Provisional  Congress,  206 

Seminoles:  from  Florida,  20;  removal 
in  late  fifties,  20,  footnote;  status 
of  free  negro  among,  40;  Presby- 
terians among,  40;  manifest  only 
slight  interest  in  education,  40,  foot- 
note; given  home  in  Creek  country, 
50;  destitute,  57,  footnote;  represen- 
tatives at  inter-tribal  conference, 
71;  letter  to  chief  of,  80,  footnote; 
condition  reported  by  Carruth,  84, 
footnote;  in  council  with  Creeks, 
Cherokees,  Quapaws,  and  Sacs,  94; 
negotiations  of  Pike  with,  136,  foot- 
note; complaint  against  General 
Jesup,  164,  footnote;  Rector's  trans- 
actions with,  182,  footnote 

Seneca  and  Shawnee  Treaty;  157  and 
footnote 

Senecas:  51,  64,  67;  negotiations  of 
Pike  with,  136,  footnote;  from  Cat- 
taraugus  Reservation,  227,  footnote 

Senecas  and  Shawnees:  51,  64,  67;  ne- 
gotiations of  Pike  with,  136,  foot- 
note, 237 

Settlers:  in  Kansas  demand  that  In- 
dians vacate  territory,  36 

Seward,  William  H:  reference  to 
"higher  law"  speech,  42,  footnote; 
Chicago  speech,  58,  75 ;  Senate 
speech,  58 

Shawnee  Manual  Labor   School,   38 

Shawnee  Mission:  work  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Johnson  at,  22,  footnote 

Shawnees:  from  Ohio,  19;  tarry  in 
Missouri,  19,  footnote;  pro-slavery 
men  among,  3  5 ;  reported  by  Agent 
Dorn  as  anxious  to  leave  Kansas, 
36,  footnote;  Baptist  school  on  res- 
ervation of,  38;  Southern  Method- 
ists among,  38;  as  refugees,  57, 
footnote;  trouble  over  tribal  elec- 
tions, 209,  footnote;  attack  Wichita 
Agency,  329,  footnote 

Shon-tah-sob-ba  [Black  Dog]:  235, 
footnote,  238,  footnote 


Short  Bird:  319 

Shoshone:  suggested  territory  of,  32, 
footnote 

Siebert,  W.  H:  work  cited,  23,  foot- 
note, 49,  footnote 

Sigel,  Franz:  215,  footnote 

Simon,  Ben:   329,  footnote 

Sioux:  uprising,  21,  footnote;  warriors, 
227,  footnote 

Slaughter,  Thomas  C:  208 

Slavery:  in  Kansas,  22;  encouraged, 
22 ;  among  Southern  Indians,  22, 
292;  influence  of  churches  upon, 
37;  white  men  to  prevent  abolition 
among  Indians,  42;  opposition 
among  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws, 
45 ;  is  being  interfered  with  by  in- 
truders, 47;  cause  in  jeopardy 
among  Cherokees,  48 ;  North  to  ex- 
terminate among  Indians,  145 ;  rec- 
ognized as  legal  institution  by  treat- 
ies, 166  and  footnote;  offers  easy 
solution  of  labor  problem,  219;  Co- 
wart  reports  complaints  of  interfer- 
ence with,  293 

Slaves:  22,  142,  143,  144-145,  165. 
166,  footnote,  167,  footnote,  172,  216, 
261 

Smith,  Andrew  J :  charges  against,  41, 
footnote 

Smith,  Caleb  B:  74,  footnote,  183,  242, 
271,  274,  275 

Smith,  E.  Kirby:  100,  footnote 

Smith,  John  G:  192 

Smith,  William  R:  work  cited,  108, 
footnote,  109,  footnote 

Snow,  George  C:  198,  footnote,  199, 
footnote 

Southern  Baptist  Convention:  39,  foot- 
note 

Southern  Baptists:  38,  39 

South   Carolina:  20,  footnote 

Southern  Indians:  18,  21,  32,  34,  36 

Southern  Methodists:  38,  39,  40 

Southern  Superintendency:  30,  foot- 
note 

Sparrow,  Edward:  127 


392      The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


Spencer  Academy:  40,  footnote,  75, 
76,78 

Springfield:  214,  footnote,  217,  255, 
283,  312,  334 

Spy  companies:  reported  equipped  by 
Federals,  306 

Stand  Watie:  49,  footnote,  137,  foot- 
note, 153,  156,  footnote,  227,  240, 
283,  324 

Stanton,  Edwin  M:  276,  279 

Stanwood,  Edward:  work  cited,  106, 
footnote 

Stark,  O.  P:  76 

State  Department  (C.S.A.) :  Albert 
Pike,  commissioner  from,  134,  foot- 
note, 152;  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs, 
part  of,  188,  footnote 

Stephens,  Alexander  H:  work  cited, 
118,  footnote,  119,  footnote 

Stevens,  R.  S:  209,  footnote 

Stevens,  Thaddeus:  210,  footnote 

Stidham,  G.  W:  194 

Stocks:  6x,  76,  203,  footnote 

Stockton,  G.  B:  107,  footnote,  186, 
footnote 

Strain,  J.  H:  285,  287 

Sturm,  J.  J:  199,  201,  footnote,   330, 

33i,  353,  357 

Sumner,  Charles:  45,  footnote 
Sur-cox-ie:  268,  footnote 
Surveyors:  53 

TAHLEQUAH:  39,  footnote,  93,  188, 
footnote,  217,  and  footnote,  218, 
footnote,  226,  234,  237,  293 

Tallise  Fixico:  194 

Tatum,  Mark  T:  50,  footnote,  104, 
footnote,  296 

Taylor,  J.  W:  193,  footnote 

Taylor,  N.  G:  30,  footnote 

Tennessee:  Cherokees  from,  20;  John 
J.  Humphreys  from,  185 

Tenney,  W.  J :  work  cited,  90,  footnote 

Tents:  furnished  to  refugees,   261 

Territorial  expansion:  28,  58 

Territorial  form  of  government:  30, 
31,  footnote,  33 

Texas:  indigenous  tribes  in,  19,  foot- 


note; Indians  expelled  from,  19, 
footnote,  52,  340;  Cherokees  in,  20, 
footnote  •  annexed,  28 ;  troops  from, 
53;  Indian  patronage,  59;  Indian 
participation  in  Civil  War,  63 ;  in- 
terest in  Indian  Territory,  67;  in- 
terest in  securing  alliance  of  In- 
dians, 83,  88,  90;  interest  in  am- 
nesty provisions  of  Indian  treaties, 
175-176;  commissioners  from,  183; 
attitude  of  northern  countries  of, 
200,  footnote',  desires  Reserve  In- 
dians placed  under  her  jurisdiction, 
297 

Texas  Historical  Association  Quarter- 
ly: work  cited,  20,  footnote 

Texas  Superintendency:  56,  footnote 

Thomason,  Hugh  F:  202,  335 

Thompson,  Jacob :  45,  footnote,  46,  54, 
56,  footnote 

Tishomingo:  county  of,  68,  footnote 

Tonkawas:  52  and  footnote,  189,  foot- 
note, 200,  201,  footnote,  340,  353 

Toombs,  Robert:  129,  131,  134  and 
footnote,  135,  footnote,  152 

Totten,  James:  103,  104 

Traders:  22,  27,  59-60,  169  et  seq., 
193,  footnote,  238-239,  319 

Trammel,  Dennis:  288,  289 

Treat,  S.  B:  43,  footnote 

Treaties:  34,  footnote,  37,  footnote,  53, 
78,  84,  footnote,  102,  117,  122,  foot- 
note; made  with  Indians  as  with 
foreign  powers,  17 ;  Ohio  desires  in- 
formation as  to  Manypenny,  33, 
footnote ;  relations  to  U.  S.  in,  70, 
footnote;  obligation  to  abide  by,  71, 
footnote;  reduction  of  forts  viola- 
tion of  guaranties  in,  97,  footnote; 
resulting  from  council  at  Tahle- 
quah,  237  et  seq. ;  with  the  Chero- 
kees in  part  the  result  of  intimida- 
tion, 240,  footnote;  with  the  Neosho 
Agency  Indians,  241 ;  money  due 
the  Creeks  under,  289;  Pike  reports 
all  ratified,  320;  amendments  to, 
323;  manuscript  copies  of,  329-330, 
footnote;  no  Indian  Department  to 


Index 


393 


be  organized  until  ratification  of, 
331;  terms  of  the,  with  the  wild 
Indians,  352;  Leeper  makes  a,  with 
the  Comanches,  354-355 

TROOPS  :  Confederate  -  in  Cherokee 
country,  136,  footnote;  no  Arkan- 
sas, available,  253,  footnote;  Van 
Dorn's  erroneous  surmise  as  to  pro- 
portion of  white,  in  Pike's  brigade, 
280;  Van  Dorn's  plans  as  to  dis- 
position of,  283 ;  Leeper  inquires 
when,  may  be  expected,  310;  Pike's 
confidence  in  white,  320;  lack  of,  in 
Leased  District,  343,  349 ;  non-ar- 
rival of,  345.  Indian  -  Confeder- 
acy secure  before  negotiation  of 
treaties  of  alliance,  207;  plans  for 
distribution  of,  207;  Cherokee,  un- 
der McCulloch,  226-227;  Northern, 
offer  to  furnish  U.  S.  with,  227,  foot- 
notes; large  and  increasing  number 
in  Indian  Territory,  252;  not  pos- 
sible to  keep  order,  346.  United 
States  -  few  within  Indian  country, 
52-53 ;  Secretary  Floyd  disposed  to 
withdraw  from  Indian  frontier,  53 ; 
from  Texas  ordered  to  protect  U.  S. 
surveyors,  53 ;  number  to  be  re- 
tained in  Indian  country  queried, 
72,  footnote;  Carruth  reports  all 
gone  from  Indian  Territory,  86, 
footnote;  ordered  to  leave,  87  and 
footnote;  disposition,  reported  upon 
by  Texas  commissioners,  95 ;  under 
Emory  ordered  to  Indian  Territory, 
96  et  seg. ;  flee  from  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, 101 ;  dissatisfaction  at  report- 
ed change  in  disposition  in  Arkan- 
sas, 103,  105;  to  counteract  influ- 
ence of  secessionists,  216;  method 
of  warfare  under  Lane,  233 ;  Dole 
urges  to  re-occupy  Indian  Territory, 
241 ;  sudden  withdrawal  spreads 
alarm  in  Leased  District,  299 

True  Democrat:  work  cited,  47,  foot- 
note, 48,  footnote,  106,  footnote 

Tuckabatche  Micco:  51,  footnote 

Tuckabatchee  Town:  193,  footnote 


Tulsey  Town:  255 
Turnbull,  John  P:  189,  footnote 
Turner,  J.  W:  260,  272,  footnote 
Tusaquach:  247 

Tush-ca-hom-ma :  district  of,  179 
Twiggs,  D.  E:  55,  footnote,  87 

UMATILLA:  suggested  territory  of,  32, 
footnote 

Underground   railroad :   42 

Upper  Arkansas  Agency:  210,  footnote 

Upper  Creeks:  50,  208,  footnote,  191, 
footnote,  192,  193,  footnote,  236, 
footnote,  244,  319 

Usher,  John  P:  56,  footnote,  228,  foot- 
note 

VAN  BUREN  (Ark.) :  64,  footnote 
Van    Dorn,   Earl:    55,    138,    footnote, 

280,  283 

Vann,  Joseph:  217,  223 
Verdigris  River:  259,  272 

WAH-PA-NUC-KA  INSTITUTE:  40,  foot- 
note 

Walker,  David:  116,  298 

Walker,  Leroy  P:  119,  127,  142,  147, 
151,  161,  200,  footnote,  207,  215, 
footnote 

Walker,  William:  head  chief  of  the 
Wyandots,  22,  footnote 

Walker,  William:  105,  footnote 

Wall,   David:  23,   footnote 

Walnut  Creek:  259 

War  Department:  C.S.A.,  128,  foot- 
note, 139,  footnote,  140,  footnote, 
193,  footnote,  257,  footnote;  U.S.A., 
52,  80,  87,  96,  228,  footnote,  234, 
241,  250,  264-265,  275 

Washburn,  J.  W:  84,  footnote,  164, 
footnote,  238,  and  footnote 

Washita:  Indians  driven  from  coun- 
try of,  19,  footnote 

Wattles,  Augustus:  229,  footnote 

Waul,  Thomas  N:  127,  205 

Weas:  from  Illinois,  19 

Weber's  Falls:  86,  footnote 

Welch,  George  W:  84,  footnote 


394     The  Indian  as  Slaveholder  and  Secessionist 


West  Florida:  seizure  of,  28 

West  Point:  215,  footnote 

Wheelock:  Choctaw  school,  39,  foot- 
note 

White,  Joseph:  209,  footnote 

White,  S.  W:  letter  of,  33,  footnote 

White  Cloud:  227,  footnote 

Whitney,  Henry  C:  208  and  footnote 

Whittenhall,  Daniel  S:  350 

Wichita  Agency:  site  for,  54,  56,  foot- 
note, 136,  footnote,  attack  upon,  329, 
footnote 

Wichita  Mountains:  51,  55 

Wichita  Treaty:  157,  footnote,  158, 
163,  176 

Wichitas:  52;  colonization  of,  55;  sub- 
sistence given  to,  57,  footnote;  Leas- 
ed District  of,  63 ;  colonized  on  land 
claimed  as  their  own,  166;  Pike 
hopes  to  meet,  189,  footnote;  Pike 
fears  hostility  of,  200;  refuse  to  be 
cajoled  or  intimidated,  201 


Wilson,  Henry:  work  cited,  32,  foot- 
note 

Wilson,  William:  23,  footnote 
Wilson's  Creek:  battle  of,  225 
Winneconne:  219,   footnote 
Wisconsin:  tribes  from,   19 
Wolcott,  Edward:  273,  footnote 
Worcester,  Reverend  S.  A:  23,  foot- 
note; opposed  to  slavery,  41 
Wyandots:  from  Ohio  and  Michigan, 
19 ;  William  Walker,  head  chief  of, 
22,  footnote;  initiate  movement  for 
organization  of  Nebraska  Territory, 
34;    interested    in    Kansas    election 
troubles,    34,    footnote;    Methodism, 
38 

YANCTON  Sioux:  Agent  Burleigh  sug- 
gests  that  garrison   Fort  Randall, 
227,  footnote 
Young,  William  C:  100 
Yulee,  David  L:  238,  footnote 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 

970  1AB3S  C001  VOQ1 

THE  SLAVEHOLDING  INDIANS.  CLEVELAND 


30112025356038 


